Contributes to the maintenance of intracerebral BDNF levels within the normal range, which is necessary for the preservation of spatial learning and the resistance to neuronal cell death caused by ischemic stress (By similarity). May enhance growth factor-induced ERK1 and ERK2 phosphorylation, including that induced by NGF. May attenuate NGF-promoted ELK1 phosphorylation in a microtubule-dependent manner. Expressed in the brain and heart, weakly in the kidney; most prominently in postnatal brain where it is expressed widely in the olfactory bulb, cerebral cortex, hippocampus, cerebellum, thalamus, and medulla oblongata. Isoform 1, isoform 2 and isoform 3 are detected in maturing and mature brain, whereas isoform 4, isoform 5 and isoform 6 are expressed in embryonic and early postnatal brain. All isoforms are expressed in heart. Belongs to the NDRG family.