Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor and is the first member of the GDNF family of ligands (GFL) found. Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor has been shown to interact with GFRA2 and GDNF family receptor alpha 1. GDNF has regenerative properties for brain cells and showed potential as treatment for Parkinson's disease - monkeys with an induced form of Parkinson's disease showed less trembling when treated with the drug, and neuronal fibres grew in part of the human brain exposed to the drug. However progress to a treatment is hampered by the problem of delivering the drug to brain cells through the blood-brain barrier in human.
Perisynaptic schwann cells research conducted in the past two decades. The origin of Perisynaptic (Terminal) Schwann Cells was largely under question in the 1960s as there were arguments on whether the cells were of epithelial or glial descent, but the development of PSCs has been linked to Neural crest origin. As described above, PSCs are a type of non-myelinating Schwann cell, which develop from neural crest cells. The general series of developmental events can be summarized as this: Neural Crest cells develop into Schwann cell precursors which further develop into Immature Schwann cells which then differentiate into Myelinating Schwann cells and non-Myelinating schwann