| Primary Identifier | IPR019846 | Type | Conserved_site |
| Short Name | Nerve_growth_factor_CS |
| description | During the development of the vertebrate nervous system, many neuronsbecome redundant (because they have died, failed to connect to targetcells, etc.) and are eliminated. At the same time, developing neurons sendout axon outgrowths that contact their target cells []. Such cells controltheir degree of innervation (the number of axon connections) by thesecretion of various specific neurotrophic factors that are essential forneuron survival. One of these is nerve growth factor (NGF or beta-NGF), a vertebrate protein that stimulatesdivision and differentiation of sympathetic and embryonic sensory neurons [,]. NGF is mostly found outside the centralnervous system (CNS), but slight traces have been detected in adult CNStissues, although a physiological rolefor this is unknown []; it has alsobeen found in several snake venoms [, ].NGF is a protein of about 120 residues that is cleaved from a largerprecursor molecule. It contains six cysteines all involved in intrachaindisulphide bonds. A schematic representation of the structure of NGF is shownbelow:+------------------------+| || |xxxxxxCxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxCxxxxCxxxxxCxxxxxxxxxxxxxCxCxxxx| | | |+--------------------------|-----+ |+---------------------+'C': conserved cysteine involved in a disulphide bond.This entry also contains NGF-related proteins such as neutrophin 3, which promotes the survival of visceral and proprioceptive sensory neurons, and brain-derived neurotrophin, which promotes the survival of neuronal populations that are located either in the central nervous system or directly connected to it [, ].This entry covers the central region of the proteins and include two of the six cysteines involved in disulphide bonds. |
