NENF

Acts as a neurotrophic factor in postnatal mature neurons enhancing neuronal survival. Promotes cell proliferation and neurogenesis in undifferentiated neural progenitor cells at the embryonic stage and inhibits differentiation of astrocytes (By similarity). Its neurotrophic activity is exerted via MAPK1/ERK2, MAPK3/ERK1 and AKT1/AKT pathways (By similarity). Neurotrophic activity is enhanced by binding to heme (By similarity). Also acts as an anorexigenic neurotrophic factor that contributes to energy balance (By similarity)..

Function from UniProtKB (Q9UMX5), read 2026-09-23. CC BY 4.0.