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.
Glial fibrillary acidic protein Glial fibrillary acidic protein Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is a protein that is encoded by the "GFAP" gene in humans. Glial fibrillary acidic protein is an intermediate filament (IF) protein that is expressed by numerous cell types of the central nervous system (CNS) including astrocytes and ependymal cells during development. GFAP has also been found to be expressed in glomeruli and peritubular fibroblasts taken from rat kidneys Leydig cells of the testis in both hamsters and humans, human keratinocytes, human osteocytes and chondrocytes and stellate cells of the pancreas and liver in rats. First described in 1971, GFAP is