The N-Myc downstream-regulated gene (NDRG) family consists of four members (NDRG1, NDRG2, NDRG3, NDRG4) that are differentially expressed in various organs and function in important processes, like cell proliferation and differentiation. In the last couple of decades, interest in this family has risen due to its connection with several disorders of the nervous system including Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and dementia, as well as nervous system cancers. By combining a literature review with in silico data analysis of publicly available datasets, such as the Mouse Brain Atlas, BrainSpan, the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project, and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets, this review summarizes the expression and functions of the NDRG family in the healthy and diseased nervous system. We here show that the NDRGs have a differential, relatively cell type–specific, expression pattern in the nervous system. Even though NDRGs share functionalities, like a role in vesicle trafficking, stress response, and neurite outgrowth, other functionalities seem to be unique to a specific member, e.g., the role of NDRG1 in myelination. Furthermore, mutations, phosphorylation, or changes in expression of NDRGs are related to nervous system diseases, including peripheral neuropathy and different forms of dementia. Moreover, NDRG1, NDRG2, and NDRG4 are all involved in cancers of the nervous system, such as glioma, neuroblastoma, or meningioma. All in all, our review elucidates that although the NDRGs belong to the same gene family and share some functional features, they should be considered unique in their expression patterns and functional importance for nervous system development and neuronal diseases.

中文翻译：

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神经 NDRG：中枢和周围神经系统中的 N-myc 下游调节基因家族。

N-Myc 下游调节基因 (NDRG) 家族由四个成员（ NDRG1、NDRG2、NDRG3、NDRG4）组成，它们在不同器官中差异表达，并在细胞增殖和分化等重要过程中发挥作用。在过去的几十年里，人们对这个家族的兴趣日益浓厚，因为它与多种神经系统疾病有关，包括腓骨肌萎缩症和痴呆症，以及神经系统癌症。通过将文献综述与公开数据集（例如小鼠大脑图谱、BrainSpan、基因型组织表达（GTEx）项目和基因表达综合（GEO）数据集）的计算机数据分析相结合，这篇综述总结了表达和功能NDRG 家族在健康和患病神经系统中的作用。我们在此表明​​ NDRG 在神经系统中具有差异性、相对细胞类型特异性的表达模式。尽管 NDRG 具有相同的功能，例如在囊泡运输、应激反应和神经突生长中的作用，但其他功能似乎是特定成员所独有的，例如 NDRG1 在髓鞘形成中的作用。此外，NDRG 的突变、磷酸化或表达变化与神经系统疾病有关，包括周围神经病变和不同形式的痴呆。此外，NDRG1、NDRG2和NDRG4都与神经系统癌症有关，例如神经胶质瘤、神经母细胞瘤或脑膜瘤。总而言之，我们的综述阐明，虽然 NDRG 属于同一基因家族并具有一些功能特征，但它们的表达模式和对神经系统发育和神经元疾病的功能重要性应被认为是独特的。