Figure 1.

BDNF-TrkB dependent pathways: BDNF binds its high affinity receptor Tropomyosin-related kinase B (TrkB) and activates three main pathways (adapted from [3–5]): ① the PI3K/Akt pathway which has been shown to mediate cell survival function of BDNF, ② the phospholipase C (PLC) pathway which leads to the activation of protein kinase C (PKC), and ③ the Ras pathway which activates extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). Activation of the kinases, PKC and ERK, leads to posttranslational modification such as phosphorylation and transcription. These processes are critical to neuroplasticity, including central sensitization and LTP. BDNF also binds the nonselective p75^NTR.