Department of Medicine, Bristol University, UK.
The neuropeptide galanin is expressed developmentally in the DRG and is rapidly up-regulated 120-fold after peripheral nerve section in the adult. The generation and study of galanin knockout mice has indicated that the peptide is critical to the development and function of specific subsets of neurons in the central and peripheral nervous system. These data have important implications for the understanding, and potential therapeutic treatment, of sensory neuropathies and a number of neurological diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy.