The importance of neuronal growth factors in the ovary

S Streiter, B Fisch, B Sabbah, A Ao, R Abir
Molecular human reproduction · 2015 · doi:10.1093/molehr/gav057 · PMID:26487421
review OA: bronze public-domain-us
📄 Open PDF View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

Neurotrophins and neuronal growth factors like NGF, NT3, NT4/5, BDNF, GDNF, and VIP are involved in ovarian follicular development, ovulation, oocyte maturation, and steroidogenesis, with potential roles in ovarian pathologies.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

The neurotrophin family consists of nerve growth factor (NGF), neurotrophin 3 (NT3) and neurotrophin 4/5 (NT4/5), in addition to brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and the neuronal growth factors, glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and vasointestinal peptide (VIP). Although there are a few literature reviews, mainly of animal studies, on the importance of neurotrophins in the ovary, we aimed to provide a complete review of neurotrophins as well as neuronal growth factors and their important roles in normal and pathological processes in the ovary. Follicular assembly is probably stimulated by complementary effects of NGF, NT4/5 and BDNF and their receptors. The neurotrophins, GDNF and VIP and their receptors have all been identified in preantral and antral follicles of mammalian species, including humans. Transgenic mice with mutations in the genes encoding for Ngf, Nt4/5 and Bdnf and their tropomyosin-related kinase β receptor showed a reduction in preantral follicles and an abnormal ovarian morphology, whereas NGF, NT3, GDNF and VIP increased the in vitro activation of primordial follicles in rats and goats. Additionally, NGF, NT3 and GDNF promoted follicular cell proliferation; NGF, BDNF and VIP were shown to be involved in ovulation; VIP inhibited follicular apoptosis; NT4/5, BDNF and GDNF promoted oocyte maturation and NGF, NT3 and VIP stimulated steroidogenesis. NGF may also exert a stimulatory effect in ovarian cancer and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Low levels of NGF and BDNF in follicular fluid may be associated with diminished ovarian reserve and high levels with endometriosis. More knowledge of the roles of neuronal growth factors in the ovary has important implications for the development of new therapeutic drugs (such as anti-NGF agents) for ovarian cancer and PCOS as well as various infertility problems, warranting further research.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosisinfertility

MeSH descriptors

Nerve Growth Factors Ovary Animals Apoptosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Humans Infertility, Female Infertility, Female Mice Mice, Transgenic Nerve Growth Factors Oocytes Oocytes Ovarian Follicle Ovarian Follicle Ovarian Neoplasms Ovarian Neoplasms Ovary

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (100)

Source provenance

crossref
last seen: 2026-05-16T01:00:05.200411+00:00
europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-13T06:22:48.782012+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:17:33.600579+00:00
unpaywall
last seen: 2026-05-14T19:30:52.867331+00:00
License: public-domain-us · commercial use OK · attribution required
Courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine