Neurotrophins function to regulate naturally occurring cell death of neurons during development. The prototype neurotrophin is nerve growth factor (NGF), originally discovered in the 1950s as a soluble peptide promoting the survival of, and neurite outgrowth from, sympathetic ganglia. Three additional structurally homologous neurotrophic factors have been identified. These include brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) and neurotrophin-4 (NT-4) (also designated NT-5). These various neurotrophins stimulate the in vitro survival of distinct, but partially overlapping, populations of neurons.
