Effect of Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) on Survival of Superior Cervical Ganglion (SCG) Transplanted into the Third Ventricle in Rats

Effect of short-term exposure to nerve growth factor (NGF) on neuron survival of superior cervical ganglion (SCG) transplanted into the third ventricle in rats and that on neurite outgrowth of SCG neurons in a tissue culture system were examined. Because SCG taken from 3 week-old rats exhibited a high survival rate in transplantation and they were highly sensitive to NGF in culture, they were used in the short-term NGF treatment experiment. SCG from 3 week-old rats were preincubated with NGF for 30 min at room temperature, and then they were cultured for 2 days or grafted for 14 days. Short-term exposure to NGF at the concentration of 10 micrograms/ml enhanced the survival of transplanted SCG neurons. The same concentration of NGF enhanced neurite outgrowth of SCG neurons in culture. These results suggest that short-term NGF pretreatment could increase the efficiency of neuronal transplantation.