T. Finn et R. Nishi, DOES CILIARY NEUROTROPHIC FACTOR SERVE A DIFFERENT FUNCTION IN THE RAT VERSUS THE CHICKEN, Perspectives on developmental neurobiology, 4(1), 1996, pp. 91-99
Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) was first identified as a trophic a
ctivity that was able to support the survival of chick ciliary ganglio
n (CG) neurons in vitro. CNTF from rabbit and rat were subsequently pu
rified from sciatic nerve and their cDNA sequences cloned. Another tro
phic molecule for CG neurons was identified as a growth promoting acti
vity (GPA). GPA was purified from chicken sciatic nerve and cloned fro
m embryonic chicken eye. The rat and rabbit CNTFs have a considerable
amount of structural homology and are not secreted in significant quan
tities, whereas GPA is less similar in that it is only 49% homologous
with rabbit and rat CNTF and is secreted by cells. This review discuss
es other similarities and differences in biological activities, molecu
lar structure, receptor signaling and cellular distribution between CN
TF and GPA and suggests that these molecules may have different functi
ons in rodents and birds.