The p75 neurotrophin receptor

The pan neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) is best known for mediating neural cell death during development as well as in the adult following injury, the latter making it a target for the treatment of neurodegenerative disease. Although p75NTR has been studied for over 30 years, a number of recent discoveries have changed our understanding of its regulation. Here we provide a brief overview of the p75NTR protein, its post-translational modifications, and the phenotype of p75NTR-deficient mice as a starting point for researchers unfamiliar with this complex receptor. The accepted mechanisms underlying the ability of p75NTR to regulate cell death as well as a number of other neural functions, most notably neuronal differentiation, neurite outgrowth and synaptic plasticity, are also summarised.