Abstract
PREVIOUS studies in our laboratories1 have demonstrated that nerve fibres from explanted chick embryonic sensory ganglia become preferentially orientated towards fragments of mouse sarcoma 180 or adrenal medulla. It was suggested that this orientation was mediated by the release from the tissues of nerve growth factor (NGF). Direct experimental evidence for this hypothesis was not presented but the effect could be duplicated by using a capillary tube containing a solution of purified NGF instead of the tissue fragment, thus establishing that the protein could exert a directional effect on the growth of nerve fibres in vitro. Independently, Burnstock and coworkers2 have reported similar orientation effects for rat sympathetic ganglia grown in proximity to a range of rat and other tissues. These results are potentially of considerable importance since they suggest that the orientation of peripheral nerves in vivo may be regulated, at least in part, by the release of NGF from the end organ. We report here the results of further experiments which confirm that NGF, as identified by biological activity and specific immunological properties, is produced and released by the adrenal medulla in culture.
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HARPER, G., PEARCE, F. & VERNON, C. Production of nerve growth factor by the mouse adrenal medulla. Nature 261, 251–253 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/261251a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/261251a0
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