Abstract
Nerve growth factor (NGF) is a neuroprotective molecule performing not only on central and peripheral neurons but also on cells of the visual system. Human retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a major cause of blindness worldwide, and a resolute therapy is still lacking. Recent studies have shown that ocular NGF administration exerts a protective action on damaged retinal cells of mammalians, including human beings, although whether NGF also protects photoreceptors is not clear.
We used the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) strain in this study. The RCS is a rodent affected by inherited retinitis pigmentosa (RP) during postnatal life. For this study, we investigated whether ocular NGF treatment reduces/stops the progression of photoreceptor degeneration of rats with RP.
This study was carried out in vitro on isolated photoreceptors to further investigate the action on these cells and whether the action is direct or mediated.
The results indicate that ocular NGF administration can protect photoreceptors from degeneration into a model developing inherited RP and that the NGF action is direct. In this regard, we observed that binding of NGF to its receptor modulates expression of rhodopsin, a specific biological marker for photoreceptor survival and functionality.
Part of the data reported in this chapter has been published in a previous study.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Abbreviations
- NGF:
-
Nerve Growth Factor
- RCS:
-
Royal College of Surgeons
- RP:
-
Retinitis Pigmentosa
- RPE:
-
Retinal Pigment Epithelium
- TrkA:
-
Tyrosine Kinase Receptor
References
Aloe L (2004) NGF and molecules in health and disease. Prog Brain Res 2004, 146
Aloe L, Tirassa P, Lambiase A (2008) The topical application of nerve growth factor as a pharmacological tool for human corneal and skin ulcers. Pharmacol Res 57:253–258
Aloe L, Rocco ML, Bianchi P, Manni L (2012) Nerve growth factor: from the early discoveries to the potential clinical use. J Transl Med 10:239
Amendola T, Aloe L (2002) Developmental expression of nerve growth factor in the eye of rats affected by inherited retinopathy: correlative aspects with retinal structural degeneration. Arch Ital Biol 140:81–90
Amendola T, Fiore M, Aloe L (2003) Postnatal changes in nerve growth factor and brain derived neurotrophic factor levels in the retina, visual cortex, and geniculate nucleus in rats with retinitis pigmentosa. Neurosci Lett 345:37–40
Bocchini V, Angeletti PU (1969) The nerve growth factor: purification as a 30,000-molecular-weight protein. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 64:787–794
Coassin M, Lambiase A, Sposato V, Micera A, Bonini S, Aloe L (2008) Retinal p75 and bax overexpression is associated with retinal ganglion cells apoptosis in a rat model of glaucoma. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 246:1743–1749
Colafrancesco V, Coassin M, Rossi S, Aloe L (2011) Effect of eye NGF administration on two animal models of retinal ganglion cells degeneration. Ann Ist Super Sanita 47:284–289
Conner JM, Varon S (1994) Nerve growth factor influences the distribution of sympathetic sprouting into the hippocampal formation by implanted superior cervical ganglia. Exp Neurol 130:15–23
Cuello AC, Maysinger D, Garofalo L (1992) Trophic factor effects on cholinergic innervation in the cerebral cortex of the adult rat brain. Mol Neurobiol 6:451–461
Cuello AC, Bruno MA, Allard S, Leon W, Iulita MF (2010) Cholinergic involvement in Alzheimer's disease. A link with NGF maturation and degradation. J Mol Neurosci 40:230–235
Curtis R, Adryan KM, Stark JL, Park JS, Compton DL, Weskamp G, Huber LJ, Chao MV, Jaenisch R, Lee KF et al (1995) Differential role of the low affinity neurotrophin receptor (p75) in retrograde axonal transport of the neurotrophins. Neuron 14:1201–1211
D'Cruz PM, Yasumura D, Weir J, Matthes MT, Abderrahim H, LaVail MM, Vollrath D (2000) Mutation of the receptor tyrosine kinase gene Mertk in the retinal dystrophic RCS rat. Hum Mol Genet 9:645–651
Dowling JE, Sidman RL (1962) Inherited retinal dystrophy in the rat. J Cell Biol 14:73–109
Faktorovich EG, Steinberg RH, Yasumura D, Matthes MT, LaVail MM (1990) Photoreceptor degeneration in inherited retinal dystrophy delayed by basic fibroblast growth factor. Nature 347:83–86
Lambiase A, Coassin M, Sposato V, Micera A, Sacchetti M, Bonini S, Aloe L (2007) NGF topical application in patients with corneal ulcer does not generate circulating NGF antibodies. Pharmacol Res 56:65–69
Lambiase A, Aloe L, Centofanti M, Parisi V, Bao SN, Mantelli F, Colafrancesco V, Manni GL, Bucci MG, Bonini S et al (2009) Experimental and clinical evidence of neuroprotection by nerve growth factor eye drops: implications for glaucoma. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 106:13469–13474
Liang XL, Li J, Chen F, Ding XY, Yang XX, Long LX (2012) A comparing study of quantitative staining techniques for retinal neovascularization in a mouse model of oxygen-induced retinopathy. Int J Ophthalmol 5:1–6
Pagani L, Manni L, Aloe L (2006) Effects of electroacupuncture on retinal nerve growth factor and brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression in a rat model of retinitis pigmentosa. Brain Res 1092:198–206
Rocco ML, Balzamino BO, Petrocchi Passeri P, Micera A, Aloe L (2015) Effect of purified murine NGF on isolated photoreceptors of a rodent developing retinitis pigmentosa. PlosOne 21:10
Siliprandi R, Canella R, Carmignoto G (1993) Nerve growth factor promotes functional recovery of retinal ganglion cells after ischemia. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 34:3232–3245
Turner JE, Delaney RK (1979) Retinal ganglion cell response to axotomy and nerve growth factor antiserum in the regenerating visual system of the newt (Notophthalmus viridescens): an ultrastructural morphometric analysis. Brain Res 177:35–47
Acknowledgments
L.A. by Fondazione IRET, Ozzano Emilia, Bologna, Italy.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Rocco, M.L., Calzà, L., Aloe, L. (2021). NGF and Retinitis Pigmentosa: Structural and Molecular Studies. In: Calzà, L., Aloe, L., Giardino, L. (eds) Recent Advances in NGF and Related Molecules. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology(), vol 1331. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74046-7_17
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74046-7_17
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-74045-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-74046-7
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)