TY - JOUR T1 - Somatic gene transfer of NGF to the aged brain: behavioral and morphological amelioration JF - The Journal of Neuroscience JO - J. Neurosci. SP - 2819 LP - 2825 DO - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.15-04-02819.1995 VL - 15 IS - 4 AU - KS Chen AU - FH Gage Y1 - 1995/04/01 UR - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/15/4/2819.abstract N2 - 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. ER -