RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 The biological responses of axotomized adult motoneurons to brain- derived neurotrophic factor JF The Journal of Neuroscience JO J. Neurosci. FD Society for Neuroscience SP 5281 OP 5291 DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.14-09-05281.1994 VO 14 IS 9 A1 Q Yan A1 C Matheson A1 OT Lopez A1 JA Miller YR 1994 UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/14/9/5281.abstract AB Recent studies showed that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) prevents developing motoneurons from naturally occurring and axotomy- induced cell death. Here we examined whether adult motoneurons retain responsiveness to BDNF. Consistent with previous studies, we found that adult spinal and brainstem motoneurons expressed the mRNA of BDNF receptor, trkB. In addition, the trkB immunoreactivities were readily detected in the adult spinal and brainstem motoneurons. We then demonstrated that axotomized adult motoneurons responded to exogenous BDNF. BDNF administered locally markedly attenuated the lesion-induced decrease of ChAT immunoreactivity and activity and enhanced the lesion- induced reexpression of low-affinity NGF receptor immunoreactivity in adult facial motoneurons. Furthermore, we found BDNF administered subcutaneously, intravenously, and into the cerebral ventricle attenuated the lesion-induced decrease of ChAT immunoreactivity in adult facial motoneurons in a dose-dependent fashion. Our data indicate that adult motoneurons retain their responsiveness to BDNF, suggesting that BDNF may be useful as a therapeutic agent for adult motoneuron disease.