MOLECULAR-BIOLOGY OF THE INSULIN-LIKE GROWTH-FACTORS - RELEVANCE TO NERVOUS-SYSTEM FUNCTION

In the past ten years, molecular biology approaches have provided the structures of multiple components of the IGF system, IGF peptides, receptors, binding proteins, and the mRNAs and genes encoding them. Progress has been made toward understanding which components of the IGF system are expressed in the nervous system, their cellular localization, and their regulation. The molecular studies also provide the potential for availability of pure components of the IGF system for testing of biological effects and interactions. Emerging information from these approaches together with the applications of gene transfer approaches in cells in culture and transgenic animals suggest that the next few years will provide exponential increase in our information and understanding of the precise roles of the IGF system in nervous system function. © 1990 Humana Press Inc.