Investigating the synergistic effect of combined neurotrophic factor concentration gradients to guide axonal growth
Neuroscience, 122 (2):
381--389 (2003)DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2003.08.018
Abstract
Neurotrophic factors direct axonal growth toward the target tissue by a concentration gradient, which is mediated through different tyrosine kinase cell surface receptors. In this study, well-defined concentration gradients of neurotrophic factors (NFs) allowed us to study the synergistic effect of different \NFs\ (e.g. nerve growth factor NGF, neurotrophin-3 NT-3 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor BDNF) for axonal guidance of embryonic lumbar dorsal root ganglion cells (DRGs). Effective guidance of \DRG\ axons was achieved with a minimum ŊF\ concentration gradient of 133 ng/ml/mm alone, or combined ŊF\ and NT-3 concentration gradients of 80 ng/ml/mm each. Interestingly, the combined concentration gradients of ŊF\ and \BDNF\ did not show any significant synergism at the concentration gradients studied. The synergism observed between ŊF\ and NT-3 indicates that axons may be guided over a 12.5 mm distance, which is significantly greater than that of 7.5 mm calculated by us for ŊF\ alone or that of 2 mm observed by others.
Description
Investigating the synergistic effect of combined neurotrophic factor concentration gradients to guide axonal growth