NGF

Rita Levi-Montalcini showed, in a series of brilliantly performed studies, that NGF is not only necessary for the survival of certain nerves but also regulates the directional growth of the nerve fibres.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1986 - Presentation Speech 1986

The nerve cells die when NGF is blocked by antibodies.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1986 - Presentation Speech 1986

The chemical structure of NGF is now known to consist of 118 amino acids.

Physiology or Medicine 1986 - Press Release 1986

NGF is found in mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fishes.

Physiology or Medicine 1986 - Press Release 1986

NGF is produced by the target cells which lure the nerve fibres to grow in the direction.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1986 - Presentation Speech 1986

Stanley Cohen, who purified NGF, is also the discoverer of epidermal growth factor or EGF.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1986 - Presentation Speech 1986

These strategies also allowed a prolonged delivery of NGF, but the safety of the method and the long-term NGF expression by transgene still need to be determined.

PLoS ONE Alerts: New Articles Wenjie Sun et al. 2009

The subsequent demonstration that labelled NGF is taken up by the nerve endings of sympathetic [38] or sensory fibers [39] and is retrogradely transported to the cell perikarya, lent strong support to the concept of NGF as a strophic messenger, conveyed through nerve fibers from peripheral cells to the innervating neurons.

Nobel Lecture The Nerve Growth Factor: Thirty-Five Years Later 1986

Nerve fibres grow towards the source of NGF which is taken up in the fibre ends and transported back to the nerve cell body.

Physiology or Medicine 1986 - Press Release 1986

Alternatively, in these cases NGF may subserve other functions which may somehow be linked with the poisonous action of snake venom, one can envisage the possibility that a highly specific neurotropic molecule such as NGF is utilized by reptiles as a carrier of other neurotoxins devoid of specific receptors in the central and peripheral nervous systems.

Nobel Lecture The Nerve Growth Factor: Thirty-Five Years Later 1986