English

Noun

nerve growth factor ‎(plural nerve growth factors)

1. (biochemistry) a functional protein complex required for the suvival, growth and specialization of certain types of neurons in vertebrates.
   • 1983 Howles, Philip N.; Dickinson, Douglas P.; DiCaprio, Laura L.; Woodworth-Gutai, Mary; Gross, Kenneth W. "Use of a cDNA recombinant for the γ-subunit of mouse nerve growth factor to localize members of this multigene family near the TAM-1 locus on chromosome 7." Nucleic Acids Research 12, no. 6 (26 March 1984): 2791, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC318706/pdf/nar00324-0205.pdf .

     They (trypsin-like serine proteases) are also thought to be involved in the processing or activation of other biologically important proteins such as nerve growth factor (NGF) and epidermal growth factor (EGF) (3–5).

   • 1999 Landreth, Gary E. Growth Factors. In: Siegel, George J.; et al. Basic Neurochemistry. Philadelphia: Lippincott–Raven Publishers; 1999 [cited 18 December 2009]. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bookshelf/br.fcgi?book=bnchm&part=A1358#A1364

     Nerve growth factor is the prototypical member of the neurotrophin family.

Synonyms

• NGF

Meronyms

• α-NGF
• β-nerve growth factor
• β-NGF
• γ-NGF

Hypernyms

• neurotrophin

Coordinate terms

• brain-derived neurotrophic factor
• neurotrophin-3
• neurotrophin-4

References

• Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, OMIM (TM). Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD. MIM Number: 162030: 23 November 2009: . World Wide Web URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/omim/ (specific entry archived at http://www.webcitation.org/5m7mgHpA7 , 18 December 2009).
• Glossary. In: Purves, Dale; et al.. Neuroscience. Sunderland, Massachusetts: Sinauer Associates; 2001 [cited 18 December 2009]. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bookshelf/br.fcgi?book=neurosci&part=A2251#A2659 .