FK506 and the role of the immunophilin FKBP-52 in nerve regeneration

In this review, I present a brief overview of the immunosuppressant action of FK506 and my discovery that it also accelerates nerve regeneration in th e rat peripheral nervous system (for a more detailed review, see Ref. 1). T he purpose of the review is to show how studies on the mechanism by which F K506 elicits its neurotrophic activity have lead to the discovery of a nove l pathway regulating nerve regeneration. Knowledge of the correct target me diating the neurotrophic activity of the neuroimmunophilin ligands will ena ble the rationale design of new neurotrophic drugs.