Neural activity and neurotrophins induce synaptic remodeling in part by altering gene expression, A cDNA encoding a glycosylphoshatidylinositol-anchored protein was identified by screening for hippocampal genes that are induced by neural activity, This molecule, named neuritin, is expressed in postmitotic-differentiating neurons of the developing nervous system and neuronal structures associated with plasticity in the adult, Neuritin message is induced by neuronal activity and by the activity-regulated neurotrophins BDNF and NT-3. Purified recombinant neuritin promotes neurite outgrowth and arborization in primary embryonic hippocampal and cortical cultures, These data implicate neuritin as a downstream effector of activity-induced neurite outgrowth.