GDNFpromotesthesurvivalanddifferentiationofdopaminergicneuronsinculture,andisabletopreventapoptosisofmotorneuronsinducedbyaxotomy.Theencodedproteinisprocessedtoamaturesecretedformthatexistsasahomodimer.ThematureformoftheproteinisaligandfortheproductoftheRET(rearrangedduringtransfection)protooncogene.InadditiontothetranscriptencodingGDNF,twoadditionalalternativetranscriptsencodingdistinctproteins,referredtoasastrocyte-derivedtrophicfactors,havealsobeendescribed.MutationsinthisgenemaybeassociatedwithHirschsprungdisease.GDNFenhancessurvivalandmorphologicaldifferentiationofdopaminergicneuronsandincreasestheirhigh-affinitydopamineuptake.
Note:ThishGDNFisfullybiologicallyactivewhencomparedtoastandard.TheED50,calculatedbythedose-dependentdopamineuptakeinratmesencephaliccultures,wasfoundtobe4-8ng/ml.