1. Nerve growth factor is an autocrine survival factor for memory B lymphocytes
- Author
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Lucia Nencioni, Federico Cozzolino, Maria Lucibello, Danilo Labardi, Maria Torcia, Anna Rubartelli, Enrico Garaci, Luisa Bracci-Laudiero, and Luigi Aloe
- Subjects
medicine.medical_treatment ,animal cell ,Immunoglobulin D ,Mice ,Antibody Specificity ,Receptors ,Receptor ,Cells, Cultured ,Inbred BALB C ,Mice, Inbred BALB C ,education.field_of_study ,Cultured ,biology ,Toxoid ,apoptosis ,article ,Settore MED/07 - Microbiologia e Microbiologia Clinica ,nerve growth factor ,autocrine effect ,b lymphocyte ,cell survival ,etiology ,human ,human cell ,memory cell ,mouse ,nonhuman ,priority journal ,protein expression ,Animals ,B-Lymphocyte Subsets ,Cell Survival ,Female ,Humans ,Immunologic Memory ,Immunophenotyping ,Nerve Growth Factors ,Neutralization Tests ,Proto-Oncogene Proteins ,Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ,Receptor, trkA ,Receptors, Cell Surface ,Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor ,Cytokine ,trkA ,Cell Surface ,Antibody ,Cells ,Population ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,medicine ,education ,Autocrine signalling ,Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all) ,Nerve growth factor ,Immunology ,biology.protein - Abstract
Production of nerve growth factor (NGF) was assessed in cultures of human T and B lymphocytes and macrophages. NGF was constitutively produced by B cells only, which also expressed surface p140trk-A and p75NGFR molecules and hence efficiently bound and internalized the cytokine. Neutralization of endogenous NGF caused disappearance of Bcl-2 protein and apoptotic death of resting lymphocytes bearing surface IgG or IgA, a population comprising memory cells, while surface IgM/IgD “virgin” B lymphocytes were not affected. In vivo administration of neutralizing anti-NGF antibodies caused strong reduction in the titer of specific IgG in mice immunized with tetanus toxoid, nitrophenol, or arsonate and reduced numbers of surface IgG or IgA B lymphocytes. Thus, NGF is an autocrine survival factor for memory B lymphocytes.
- Published
- 1996