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The First and Last Time I Met Rita Levi-Montalcini: From the Insect Neurotrophic Factor to the Nerve Growth Factor Clinical Application

RLM and the Discovery of Two Neurotrophic Factors

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Recent Advances in NGF and Related Molecules

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((CNNCSN,volume 1331))

Abstract

The neurotrophic factor nerve growth factor (NGF) has been discovered in the 1950s by Rita Levi-Montalcini, first in a neoplastic tissue and, later, in the mouse salivary gland (see 1A). Levi-Montalcini characterized its action in the sensory and sympathetic neurons (1B) and, a few years later, in central nervous, endocrine, and immune systems. Nerve growth factor plays its trophic role both during development and in adulthood, ensuring the maintenance of phenotypic and functional characteristic of several populations of neurons as well as immune cells. The aim of the present overview is to describe my personal scientific and human experiences working with Rita Levi-Montalcini for over 45 years, first at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, searching (1) the invertebrate neurotrophic factor in the cockroaches and, later, at the Institute of Neurobiology of the National Research Council (CNR) in Rome studying (2) the role of NGF for various neuronal and non-neuronal functions; (3) the potential involvement of NGF in the pathobiology of human cutaneous, ocular, neurodegenerative, and cardiometabolic diseases; and finally (4) NGF potential clinical application.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IRET Foundation, Tecnopolo-Bologna “Rita Levi-Montalcini”, Bologna, Italy

    Luigi Aloe

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  1. Luigi Aloe
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Correspondence to Luigi Aloe .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bologna, Ozzano dell’Emilia, Bologna, Italy

    Laura Calzà

  2. IRET Foundation, Ozzano dell’Emilia, Bologna, Italy

    Luigi Aloe

  3. University of Bologna, Ozzano dell’Emilia, Bologna, Italy

    Luciana Giardino

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Aloe, L. (2021). The First and Last Time I Met Rita Levi-Montalcini: From the Insect Neurotrophic Factor to the Nerve Growth Factor Clinical Application. In: Calzà, L., Aloe, L., Giardino, L. (eds) Recent Advances in NGF and Related Molecules. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology(), vol 1331. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74046-7_2

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