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A stimulatory effect by nerve growth factor on the regrowth of adrenergic nerve fibres in the mouse peripheral tissues after chemical sympathectomy with 6-hydroxydopamine

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Summary

Systemically administered Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) had a strong stimulating effect on the regeneration of fully developed adrenergic neurons in the peripheral tissues of the mouse after axotomy induced by 6-hydroxydopamine. The NGF stimulation was investigated at 9 and 21 days after the 6-hydroxydopamine injection, and was observed fluorescence histochemically as an increase in number, length, and thickness of the outgrowing adrenergic fibre bundles, in the extent and abundance of the terminal ramifications of the regrowing fibres, and in their fluorescence intensity. This increase in the regrowth of the lesioned adrenergic axons was paralleled by strong and significant increases in the recovery of endogenous noradrenaline in several peripheral tissues. The present findings demonstrate a sensitivity of fully developed adrenergic neurons to NGF during axonal regeneration, and it is suggested that NGF might play a normal physiological role in this process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Anatomy and Histology, University of Lund, Lund, Sweden

    Bo Bjerre, Anders Björklund & William Mobley

  2. Department of Genetics, Stanford University, California, USA

    Bo Bjerre, Anders Björklund & William Mobley

  3. Tornblad Institute, Biskopsgatan 7, S-223 62, Lund, Sweden

    Bo Bjerre

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  1. Bo Bjerre
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  2. Anders Björklund
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  3. William Mobley
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Bjerre, B., Björklund, A. & Mobley, W. A stimulatory effect by nerve growth factor on the regrowth of adrenergic nerve fibres in the mouse peripheral tissues after chemical sympathectomy with 6-hydroxydopamine. Z.Zellforsch 146, 15–43 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00306757

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00306757

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