Cerebral Dopamine Neurotrophic Factor (CDNF)

CDNF shares 59% amino acid identity with human MANF, and 49% and 46% identity with D. melanogaster and C. elegans Manf proteins, respectively. In the midbrain, Cdnf mRNA was expressed from embryonic stages to the adult. High levels of Cdnf mRNA were observed in adult mouse heart, skeletal muscle, and testis. In agreement with the results from mouse, wide expression of CDNF transcripts was detected in human brain and nonneuronal tissues. Interestingly, levels of CDNF transcripts were relatively high in the corpus callosum and optic nerve, which are devoid of neuronal cell bodies and contain mostly axonal projections and oligodendrocytes. At postnatal stage P10 of the mouse brain, Cdnf staining was most intense in the hippocampus and thalamus. Cdnf signal was also detected in striatum and substantia nigra.