A targeted effort to identify novel neurotrophic factors for midbrain dopaminergic neurons
resulted in the isolation of GDNF (glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor) from the …

The identification of the ret oncogene by Masahide Takahashi and Geoffrey Cooper in 1985
was both serendipitous and paradigmatic. By transfecting total DNA from a human …

J. Neurochem.(2010) 114, 1745–1755. Abstract Catechol‐O‐methyltransferase (COMT)
plays an active role in the metabolism of dopamine (DA) in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) …

The GDNF family ligands (GFLs) signal through the canonical signaling receptor Ret and a
glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol-anchored co-receptor, GFRα. In recent years, signaling by …

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a debilitating neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the
loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substania nigra (SN) and is associated with progressive …

Degeneration of nigrostriatal dopaminergic system is the principal lesion in Parkinson's
disease. Because glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) promotes survival of …

Manganese (Mn) is an essential trace element that is naturally found in the environment and
is necessary as a cofactor for many enzymes and is important in several physiological …

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and its canonical receptor Ret can signal
together or independently to fulfill many important functions in the midbrain dopaminergic …

No therapy exists to slow down or prevent Parkinson's disease (PD), a debilitating
neurodegenerative disorder. Neurotrophic factors (NTFs) emerged as promising disease …

Rearranged during transfection (RET) is the tyrosine kinase receptor that under normal
circumstances interacts with ligand at the cell surface and mediates various essential roles …