Abstract
Embryonic rat sympathetic neurons undergo programmed cell death upon NGF deprivation. We show that during postnatal development, these neurons acquire the ability to be supported in vitro by LIF and CNTF as well as NGF. LIF and CNTF do not promote the long-term survival of embryonic day 21 sympathetic neurons in vitro. However, after 5 days of culture in the presence of NGF, the majority of embryonic day 21 sympathetic neurons can be supported by either of these factors. Furthermore, postnatal day 6 sympathetic neurons can be immediately supported by LIF and CNTF, indicating that acquisition of survival responsiveness occurs in vivo as well as in vitro. During this period, neuronal expression of LIF and CNTF receptor mRNAs remains constant, suggesting that sympathetic neurons alter their responsiveness to LIF and CNTF by allowing additional intracellular signaling pathways to promote survival.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 763-773 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Neuron |
Volume | 12 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 1994 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We wish to thank Richard Scott and Sheryl Meyer at Cephalon for the kind gift of CNTF and Babru Samal at AMCEN for the kind gift of LIF. We thank Jenny Colombo and Pat Osborne for technical assistance. We also thank Dr. Jack Kessler and colleagues for copies of their paper prior to publication and permission to describe their results. This work was supported by the Washington University Alzheimer Disease Center (P5&ACO5681) and a grant from the Ronald McDonald Childrens Research Foundation to J. D. M. and E. M. J.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neuroscience (all)