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. 2014 Jun;9(3):216-224.
doi: 10.1007/s11515-014-1304-4.

Neurotrophin signaling and visceral hypersensitivity

Li-Ya Qiao  1
Affiliations

Neurotrophin signaling and visceral hypersensitivity

Li-Ya Qiao. Front Biol (Beijing). 2014 Jun.

Abstract

Neurotrophin family are traditionally recognized for their nerve growth promoting function and are recently identified as crucial factors in regulating neuronal activity in the central and peripheral nervous systems. The family members including nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) are reported to have distinct roles in the development and maintenance of sensory phenotypes in normal states and in the modulation of sensory activity in disease. This paper highlights receptor tyrosine kinase (Trk) -mediated signal transduction by which neurotrophins regulate neuronal activity in the visceral sensory reflex pathways with emphasis on the distinct roles of NGF and BDNF signaling in physiologic and pathophysiological processes. Viscero-visceral cross-organ sensitization exists widely in human diseases. The role of neurotrophins in mediating neural cross talk and interaction in primary afferent neurons in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and neurotrophin signal transduction in the context of cross-organ sensitization are also discussed.

Keywords: cross-sensitization; neurotrophin; signal transduction; visceral hypersensitivity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Compliance with ethics guidelines

Li-Ya Qiao declares that she has no conflict of interest. This manuscript is a review article and does not involve a research protocol requiring approval by the relevant insitutional review board or ethics committee.

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