A teratocarcinoma-derived neurotrophic activity

In a search for nerve growth factor (NGF) in tissue extracts of a murine transplantable teratocarcinoma that harbours immature neural tissue in abundance, a trypsin-sensitive and heat labile neurotrophic activity was identified. The final protein fraction obtained by cation exchange chromatography contained five proteins with mol. wts ranging from 52 to 72 kD. It supported the growth and differentiation of immature neurones in neonatal rat cerebellar cultures but had no effect on embryonic chick dorsal root ganglia which are the classical targets for NGF.