Abstract
Following lesions of the fimbria/fornix system in the rat, noradrenergic sympathetic fibers grow into the hippocampal formation. It has been postulated that these fibers collateralize in response to the presence of a neurotrophic substance similar to Nerve Growth Factor (NGF). We tested this by injecting into the rat hippocampus antibody to NGF, or control serum (contralateral control), immediately prior to a bilateral fimbria/fornix transection. In fluorescent histochemical preparations at four to five weeks following surgery, there are fewer large, brightly fluorescent fibers around the injection site on the experimental side when compared with the contralateral control side. These results support the hypothesis that NGF, or an NGF-like substance, plays an important role in the sprouting of sympathetic fibers into the denervated hippocampal formation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 629-634 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Brain Research Bulletin |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 1985 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank Mark Tayrien for the Magiscan program used in the quantitative fluoresence analysis, and Dr. E. Johnson for the NGF antibody. Supported by PHS grant NS-20288, and NSF grants BNS-8411104, and BNS-85I1564 (RL) and PHS grants AC&T31107 and DA-05274 (JS).
Keywords
- Axon sprouting
- Dentate gyrus
- Growth factor
- Hippocampus
- Norepinephrine
- Sympathohippocampal sprouting
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Neuroscience