Growth/differentiation factor 3 is a member of GDF/BMP subfamily of the TGF-beta superfamily, which has been reported to be implicated in testis carcinoma and deposition of adipose tissue. Interestingly, present work indicated that GDF3/Gdf3 genes were expressed in cerebral cortex, hippocampus as well as in cerebellum, as revealed by RT-PCR, in situ hybridization and immunostaining. Results of RT-PCR in 10 human tissues and 12 rat tissues indicated that GDF3/Gdf3 genes were abundantly transcribed in both human and murine brain, including cerebral cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum. In situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry results revealed that in cerebral cortex, GDF3 was evenly distributed. In hippocampus, it was expressed in most of the neurons in CA2 and DG region, especially only in a restricted number of neurons in the regions of CA1 and CA3 and in Purkinje cells in cerebellum. Present data suggested that GDF3 might play important roles in the central nervous system (CNS), especially in cerebral cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum, and it shed new light on further research of GDF3 in the central nervous system.