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.
Radial glial cell visualized using the electron microscope or high-resolution time-lapse microscopy, through which neurons can be seen tightly wrapped around radial glia as they travel upwards through the cortex. Additional evidence suggests that many neurons may move between neighboring radial glial fibers during migration. While excitatory neuronal migration is largely radial, inhibitory, GABAergic neurons have been shown to undergo tangential migration. Tangentially migrating neurons also appear to initiate contact with radial glial fibers in the developing cortex of ferrets, implicating radial glial cells in both of these forms of migration. As radial glia seem to differentiate late in spinal cord development, near