Effects of transferrin receptor antibody-NGF conjugate on young and aged septal transplants in oculo

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of nerve growth factor (NGF) conjugated to a monoclonal transferrin receptor antibody (OX-26) on septal transplants in oculo. Three different doses of OX-26-NGF conjugate (0.3, 3, and 50 micrograms/injection) were injected into the tail vein of young adult hosts 2, 4, and 6 weeks following intraocular transplantation of fetal forebrain tissue containing septal nuclei. Intravenous injections of OX-26 alone, NGF alone, and saline served as controls. An increase in intraocular tissue growth, as well as an increase in the intensity of immunoreactivity for p75 receptors and acetylcholinesterase, was observed following peripheral OX-26-NGF administration at the two highest doses tested. In addition, aged host rats with 16-month-old intraocular septal grafts were injected intravenously with OX-26 or OX-26-NGF (10 micrograms NGF/injection) every 2 weeks until the transplants were 24 months old. The intensity of choline acetyltransferase-like (ChAT) staining appeared to be greater and the cell bodies were larger with more processes in aged transplants in hosts treated with the OX-26-NGF conjugate than in aged OX-26-treated subjects. The present results suggest that peripheral OX-26-NGF can deliver biologically active NGF across the blood-brain barrier and have dose-dependent positive effects on both aged and developing cholinergic neurons in septal transplants.