Figure 5.
Inhibiting TrkA prevents proNGF-mediated retinal endothelial cell proliferation. BRE cells were grown into confluence and then trypsinized and plated as described in method section. Cells were switched to serum free medium and treated with mutant proNGF (50 ng/mL) in the presence or absence of K252a, TrkA inhibitor (0.1 μM), or p75NTR inhibitor (20 μM) for 24 hours and then cells were trypsinized and counted. Statistical analysis showed that proNGF increased the percentage of proliferated cells by 1.6-fold compared to the control group. This effect was blocked by the specific TrkA receptor antagonist (K252a) but not with p75 inhibitor (∗,‡statistically significant compared to control and proNGF groups, resp. (P < 0.05), n = 5–7).