The Trk Family of Receptor Tyrosine Kinases
TrkA is a receptor tyrosine kinase (meaning it mediates its actions by causing the addition of phosphate molecules on certain tyrosines in the cell, activating cellular signaling). There are other related Trk receptors, TrkB and TrkC. Also, there are other neurotrophic factors structurally related to NGF: BDNF (for Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor), NT-3 (for Neurotrophin-3) and NT-4 (for Neurotrophin-4). While TrkA mediates the effects of NGF, TrkB binds and is activated by BDNF, NT-4, and NT-3, and TrkC binds and is activated only by NT-3.
Read more about this topic: Low-affinity Nerve Growth Factor Receptor
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