PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - KS Chen
AU  - FH Gage
TI  - Somatic gene transfer of NGF to the aged brain: behavioral and morphological amelioration
AID  - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.15-04-02819.1995
DP  - 1995 Apr 01
TA  - The Journal of Neuroscience
PG  - 2819--2825
VI  - 15
IP  - 4
4099  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/15/4/2819.short
4100  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/15/4/2819.full
SO  - J. Neurosci.1995 Apr 01; 15
AB  - Primary fibroblasts modified to secrete nerve growth factor (NGF) were implanted into the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM) of aged memory impaired rats. The NGF-producing fibroblasts survived for 6 weeks following transplantation and continued expressing NGF mRNA through the duration of the experiment. A significant amelioration of the memory impairment and a significant increase in size and number of low- affinity NGF receptor (p75)-positive neurons in the basal forebrain were observed. Implantation of NGF-producing cells into normal young adult rats resulted in a transient but significant memory impairment and hypertrophy of low-affinity NGF receptor-positive neurons. These results show that naturally occurring age-related memory loss can be reversed by grafting cells engineered to secrete NGF directly to the NBM, and that either cholinergic hyper- or hypofunction may lead to cognitive impairments.