Abstract
Vinblastine injections in newborn mice produce severe atrophy of sympathetic ganglia; after a 7-day treatment the ganglia are 80% reduced in volume. Histological examinations show that this effect is due to a marked decrease in the neuronal cell population. The most precocious ultra-structural alterations are localized in the nuclear compartment, followed by axonal swelling and microtubule disappearance. Simultaneous injections of nerve growth factor entirely prevent the noxious effects of the vinca alkaloid, and result in partial appearance of the growth effects of nerve growth factor. Such protective action is not due to inhibition of vinblastine uptake which is the same in control mice and in mice pretreated with nerve growth factor. It is suggested that nerve growth factor prevents the vinca alkaloid action by favoring the assembly or organization, or both, of microtubules, which, from in vitro studies, have been proved to be inaccessible to vinblastine.
Full text
PDF
Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Bhattacharyya B., Wolff J. Tubulin aggregation and disaggregation: mediation by two distinct vinblastine-binding sites. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1976 Jul;73(7):2375–2378. doi: 10.1073/pnas.73.7.2375. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bocchini V., Angeletti P. U. The nerve growth factor: purification as a 30,000-molecular-weight protein. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1969 Oct;64(2):787–794. doi: 10.1073/pnas.64.2.787. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Brinkley B. R., Fuller E. M., Highfield D. P. Cytoplasmic microtubules in normal and transformed cells in culture: analysis by tubulin antibody immunofluorescence. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1975 Dec;72(12):4981–4985. doi: 10.1073/pnas.72.12.4981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Calissano P., Cozzari C. Interaction of nerve growth factor with the mouse-brain neurotubule protein(s). Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1974 May;71(5):2131–2135. doi: 10.1073/pnas.71.5.2131. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Levi-Montalcini R., Caramia F., Luse S. A., Angeletti P. U. In vitro effects of the nerve growth factor on the fine structure of the sensory nerve cells. Brain Res. 1968 May;8(2):347–362. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(68)90054-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Levi-Montalcini R. The nerve growth factor: its mode of action on sensory and sympathetic nerve cells. Harvey Lect. 1966;60:217–259. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Levi A., Cimino M., Mercanti D., Chen J. S., Calissano P. Interaction of nerve growth factor with tubulin. Studies on binding and induced polymerization. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1975 Jul 14;399(1):50–60. doi: 10.1016/0304-4165(75)90210-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Monaco G., Calissano P., Mercanti D. Effect of NGF on in vitro preformed microtubules. Evidence for a protective action against vinblastine. Brain Res. 1977 Jul 1;129(2):265–274. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(77)90006-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Osborn M., Weber K. Cytoplasmic microtubules in tissue culture cells appear to grow from an organizing structure towards the plasma membrane. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1976 Mar;73(3):867–871. doi: 10.1073/pnas.73.3.867. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Shelanski M. L., Gaskin F., Cantor C. R. Microtubule assembly in the absence of added nucleotides. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1973 Mar;70(3):765–768. doi: 10.1073/pnas.70.3.765. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Weisenberg R. C., Borisy G. G., Taylor E. W. The colchicine-binding protein of mammalian brain and its relation to microtubules. Biochemistry. 1968 Dec;7(12):4466–4479. doi: 10.1021/bi00852a043. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Yamada K. M., Spooner B. S., Wessells N. K. Ultrastructure and function of growth cones and axons of cultured nerve cells. J Cell Biol. 1971 Jun;49(3):614–635. doi: 10.1083/jcb.49.3.614. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]