Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), or abrineurin,[5] is a protein[6] that, in humans, is encoded by the BDNFgene.[7][8] BDNF is a member of the neurotrophin family of growth factors, which are related to the canonical nerve growth factor (NGF), a family which also includes NT-3 and NT-4/NT-5. Neurotrophic factors are found in the brain and the periphery. BDNF was first isolated from a pig brain in 1982 by Yves-Alain Barde and Hans Thoenen.[9]
^Maisonpierre PC, Le Beau MM, Espinosa R, Ip NY, Belluscio L, de la Monte SM, et al. (July 1991). "Human and rat brain-derived neurotrophic factor and neurotrophin-3: gene structures, distributions, and chromosomal localizations". Genomics. 10 (3): 558–68. doi:10.1016/0888-7543(91)90436-I. PMID1889806.