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Updated: May 28, 2026

Real-time Imaging of Axonal Transport of Quantum Dot-labeled BDNF in Primary Neurons
Published on: September 15, 2014
Self-amplifying autocrine actions of BDNF in axon development
Pei-Lin Cheng1, Ai-Hong Song, Yu-Hui Wong
1Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
Abstract:
A critical step in neuronal development is the formation of axon/dendrite polarity, a process involving symmetry breaking in the newborn neuron. Local self-amplifying processes could enhance and stabilize the initial asymmetry in the distribution of axon/dendrite determinants, but the identity of these processes remains elusive. We here report that BDNF, a secreted neurotrophin essential for the survival and differentiation of many neuronal populations, serves as a self-amplifying autocrine factor in promoting axon formation in embryonic hippocampal neurons by triggering two nested positive-feedback mechanisms. First, BDNF elevates cytoplasmic cAMP and protein kinase A activity, which triggers further secretion of BDNF and membrane insertion of its receptor TrkB. Second, BDNF/TrkB signaling activates PI3-kinase that promotes anterograde transport of TrkB in the putative axon, further enhancing local BDNF/TrkB signaling. Together, these self-amplifying BDNF actions ensure stable elevation of local cAMP/protein kinase A activity that is critical for axon differentiation and growth.
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