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BDNF and NGF signals originating from sensory ganglia promote cranial motor axon growth

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Abstract

After exiting the hindbrain, branchial motor axons reach their targets in association with sensory ganglia. The trigeminal ganglion has been shown to promote motor axon growth from rhombomeres 2/3 and 4/5, but it is unknown whether this effect is ganglion specific and through which signals it is mediated. Here, we addressed these questions by co-cultures of ventral rhombomere 8 explants with cranial and spinal sensory ganglia in a collagen gel matrix. Our results show that all cranial sensory ganglia and even a trunk dorsal root ganglion can promote motor axon growth and that ganglia isolated from older embryos had a stronger effect on the axonal growth than younger ones. We found that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) are necessary and sufficient for this effect. Altogether, our results demonstrate that the promoting effect of sensory ganglia on cranial motor axon growth is stage dependent, but not ganglion specific and is mediated by BDNF and NGF signals.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful for the technical assistance of Sandra Graefe in the Institute of Anatomy and Mr. Heinz Bioernsen in the Institute of Animal Science. We thank Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank, Iowa City, IA, USA, for the antibody. This work was supported by grant of the DFG-Hu 729/10 and DFG-Hu 729/13 to R.H. and by the China Scholarship Council to J.W. and L.L.

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Author notes

  1. Lianlian Li and Qin Pu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroanatomy, Institute of Anatomy, University of Bonn, Nussallee 10, 53115, Bonn, Germany

    Lianlian Li, Qin Pu, Maik Hintze & Ruijin Huang

  2. Institute of Zoology, School of Life Science, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China

    Lianlian Li & Jianlin Wang

  3. Institute of Basic Medicine, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, China

    Lianlian Li

  4. Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Yong Wang, Matthias Eckhardt & Volkmar Gieselmann

  5. Institute of Animal Science, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Inga Tiemann

  6. Key Laboratory of Regenerative Medicine, Ministry of Education, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

    Xufeng Qi & Dongqing Cai

  7. Department of Molecular Embryology, Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

    Ruijin Huang

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  1. Lianlian Li
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Li, L., Pu, Q., Hintze, M. et al. BDNF and NGF signals originating from sensory ganglia promote cranial motor axon growth. Exp Brain Res 238, 111–119 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-019-05694-w

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