Nerve Growth Factor: A Potential Therapeutic Target for Lung Diseases

The lungs play a very important role in the human respiratory system. However, many factors can destroy the structure of the lung, causing several lung diseases and, often, serious damage to people’s health. Nerve growth factor (NGF) is a polypeptide which is widely expressed in lung tissues. Under...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Piaoyang Liu, Shun Li, Liling Tang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
Series:International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/17/9112
Description
Summary:The lungs play a very important role in the human respiratory system. However, many factors can destroy the structure of the lung, causing several lung diseases and, often, serious damage to people’s health. Nerve growth factor (NGF) is a polypeptide which is widely expressed in lung tissues. Under different microenvironments, NGF participates in the occurrence and development of lung diseases by changing protein expression levels and mediating cell function. In this review, we summarize the functions of NGF as well as some potential underlying mechanisms in pulmonary fibrosis (PF), coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), pulmonary hypertension (PH), asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and lung cancer. Furthermore, we highlight that anti-NGF may be used in future therapeutic strategies.
ISSN:1661-6596
1422-0067