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p75 Neurotrophin Receptor
Alexandra Chittka and Moses V. Chao Department of Cell Biology and
Anatomy Cornell University Medical College 1300 New York Ave. New York, NY 10021
The neurotrophins nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF),
neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) and neurotrophin-4/5 (NT-4/5) recognize two types of cell membrane
receptors: Trk receptors (TrkA, TrkB or TrkC) and p75. The Trk family of receptors are
tyrosine kinases and show a specificity in their preference for neurotrophin binding. The
p75 receptor interacts with each neurotrophin, albeit with slightly different binding
properties. A number of different names—low affinity NGF receptor, LNGFR, and p75LNGFR
—have been used to describe this molecule, however, the most appropriate name is the
p75 neurotrophin receptor. Although much has been learned about the signaling mechanism of
Trk receptors, p75 functions have been more elusive to study. A major difficulty in
characterizing p75 signaling is the lack of an inherent enzymatic activity in the
cytoplasmic domain of the molecule. Accumulating evidence, together with its striking
structural homology with a family of receptors, including TNF receptors, CD40 and Fas, has
suggested that p75 is a multifaceted receptor capable of fufilling a wide number of
functions.
PDF article (55kb)
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