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Nerve growth factor, not laminin, is the major neurite-promoting component in medium conditioned by mouse L929
1Department of Anatomy, University of Iowa Medical College, Iowa City 52242.
Abstract:
In this study the neurite-promoting activity present in conditioned medium (LCM) from mouse fibroblast L929 cells was examined. The biological and biochemical properties of nerve growth factor (NGF) synthesized by L929 cells and released into the LCM were studied. In addition it was established that the extracellular matrix protein laminin is synthesized by L929 cells and is also present in LCM. Although NGF is a well-recognized neurite-promoting factor, recent studies have suggested that laminin is also a neurite-promoting factor. In this paper the possibility that NGF and laminin were both responsible for the neurite-promoting activity of LCM was examined. It was determined that NGF, not laminin, is the major neurite-promoting component in LCM. This was established using pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells as a biological test system and also utilizing antibodies to both NGF and laminin. The possible functional significance of NGF synthesis by fibroblast cells is discussed.