Evidence indicates that the actions of nerve growth factor (NGF) reach beyond the nervous system and might modulate immune function. Based on reports that blood NGF rises following the acute stress of parachute jumping, we investigated whether exposure to a chronic stressor, caregiving for a cognitively impaired spouse, could alter the levels of blood NGF. High perceived stress and depression i...

Nerve growth factor (NGF) is required for the development of sympathetic neurons and subsets of sensory neurons. Our current knowledge on the molecular mechanisms underlying the biological functions of NGF is in part based on the studies with PC12 rat pheochromocytoma cells, which differentiate into sympathetic neuron-like cells upon NGF treatment. Here we report that the expression of leukemia...

Rat skeletal muscle cells and a cloned myogenic cell line synthesize and secrete in culture a molecule that is immunologically and biologically indistinguishable from the active form of nerve growth factor (NGF) from mouse submandibular gland. This protein can be detected in medium conditioned by muscle cells both before and after fusion and in the soluble fraction of muscle cell homogenates. C...

Nerve growth factor (NGF) has antiproliferative and differentiating effects on adenomas of neuroendocrine origin. Cell lines derived from small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC), a very aggressive neuroendocrine tumor, express NGF receptors. The role of NGF in the control of proliferation and progression of this carcinoma, however, has never been investigated. Chronic exposure of NCI-N-592 and GLC8 SC...

Ethanol alone had no effect on neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) expression in PC12 cells. However, in the presence of nerve growth factor (NGF), nNOS expression was amplified (threefold, P < 0.05), compared to NGF alone. This increase was eliminated with pretreatment of PC12 cells with staurosporine, suggesting that the effects of ethanol on nNOS expression are mediated by a protein kinase...

We answered two major questions: (1) does retrograde signaling involve retrograde transport of nerve growth factor (NGF); and (2) is a gradient of immobilized NGF sufficient to promote and guide local axonal growth? To answer these questions, we developed a technique that resulted in stably immobilized NGF and combined this with compartmented chambers. NGF was photochemically-immobilized on a c...

Background: Some studies highlighted the role of Jujuboside A as a potent antioxidant on ischemic neurons. However, definitive effect this substance change in expression neuroprotective genes has not been clearly identified. Therefore, study aimed to investigate effects proliferation-inducing and cell count enhancement hippocampus after induction transient global ischemia/reperfusion. Materials...

The effect of adrenalectomy on the level of nerve growth factor (NGF) in the hippocampus and on the distribution of choline acetyltransferase immunoreactivity in forebrain cholinergic neurons of developing rats was studied. Biological and immunohistochemical determinations indicated that in 40-day-old rats, adrenalectomy reduced the NGF level in the hippocampus and the choline acetyltransferase...

Nerve growth factor (NGF) transcripts were identified in normal human keratinocytes in primary and secondary culture. The expression of the NGF mRNA was strongly down-regulated by corticosteroids and was maximal when keratinocytes were in the exponential phase of growth. Immunofluorescence studies on growing keratinocytes colonies and on elutriated keratinocytes obtained from growing colonies a...

Damage-induced neuronal endopeptidase (DINE) is a novel metallopeptidase and is expressed in response to various neuronal injuries. The expression regulation of DINE mRNA in the dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) after sciatic nerve injury is examined. A substantial increase of DINE mRNA expression was observed in relatively small-sized DRG neurons after nerve injury. The expression was observed in iso...