Biomedical subjects

C Grothe

Publications and source records attributed to C Grothe.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1989

Immunocytochemical localization of basic fibroblast growth factor in bovine adrenal gland, ovary, and pituitary.

We studied the distribution of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) immunoreactivity in bovine adrenal gland, ovary, and pituitary, using a polyclonal anti-bFGF antibody. In the adrenal gland, the inner layers of the capsule, the zona glomerulosa of the cortex, and the chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla were intensely stained. In the ovary, follicular epithelial cells of growing follicles and granulosa cells of mature follicles showed strong bFGF-like immunoreactivity. Endocrine cells of the pituitary anterior and intermediate lobes displayed a positive immunoreaction. Blood vessels, including endothelial and smooth muscle cells, as well as stromal cells in all three organs studied, were not stained. This distribution pattern of bFGF immunoreactivity is only partially compatible with the established mitogenic role of this protein, and suggests a wider spectrum of bFGF functions.

Adrenal Glands↗

PubMed1988

Reciprocal age-dependent pattern of two neuronal markers, tetanus toxin and neuron-specific enolase, in postnatal rat sensory and sympathetic neurons.

Tetanus toxin (TT) and antibodies to neuron-specific enolase (NSE) were used to study the developmentally regulated expression of two neuronal markers in isolated and short-term cultured rat sensory and sympathetic neurons at different postnatal ages. The results show a reciprocal pattern of TT binding and NSE-immunoreactive neurons during postnatal maturation: there is a gradual transition from TT-positive, NSE-negative to TT-negative, NSE-positive phenotypic expressions. We conclude that TT may serve as a neuronal marker for newborn, anti-NSE antibodies as markers for adult neurons, and a combination of both for adolescent neurons.

Adrenergic Fibers↗

PubMed1988

Immunocytochemical demonstration of fibroblast growth factor in cultured chick and rat neurons.

The presence of fibroblast growth factor (FGF) was investigated by immunocytochemistry in cultured neuronal cells derived from the peripheral (PNS) and the central nervous system (CNS) of chick and rat embryos. Polyclonal antimouse FGF antibodies, which cross-react with basic and acidic FGF, were used in the peroxidase immunocytochemical staining method. FGF immunoreactivity was found in neurons. Staining intensity in chick and rat brain neuronal cells increased during the culture period, reached a maximum after 6-8 days, and subsequently declined. Embryonic chick ciliary and dorsal root ganglionic (DRG) neurons as well as DRG neurons from newborn rat displayed intense FGF immunoreactivity at 12 and 48 hr in culture. Nonneuronal cells were not stained. The data demonstrate for the first time that cultured neurons from the CNS and PNS contain FGF.

Animals↗

PubMed1988

Catecholaminergic nerves in the embryonic chick ovary: co-localization with beta 2-adrenoceptor-bearing steroidogenic cells.

The present study investigates the innervation of the embryonic chick ovary with regard to (i) development and compartmentalization of catecholaminergic nerves, and (ii) presence of adrenoceptors on steroidogenic target cells of catecholaminergic nerve terminals. Catecholaminergic nerve fibers visualized by glyoxylic acid-induced histofluorescence first appeared at embryonic day (E) 13. From E15 through E21 the density of fluorescent aminergic nerves increased markedly in parallel with the concentration of catecholamines and numbers of nerve bundles and single axons seen at the electron-microscopic level. Catecholaminergic nerves were confined to the ovarian medulla and closely associated with interstitial cells. Nerve terminals approached interstitial cells up to a distance of 20 nm and, in their majority, exhibited uptake of the false adrenergic transmitter 5-hydroxydopamine. Although adrenaline amounted to 14% of the total catecholamine content at E21, adrenaline immunoreactivity was only detected in adrenal chromaffin cells, but not in nerve fibers or cell bodies within the ovary. Interstitial cells structurally matured between E15 and E21 as documented by an increase of smooth endoplasmic reticulum and tubular mitochondria. Monoclonal antibodies mAB 120 and BRK 2 raised against avian beta 1- and mammalian beta 2-adrenergic receptors revealed the presence of beta 2-adrenoceptor-like immunoreactivity on the surface of interstitial cells, but not on any other cell type. The results are consistent with the notion of a dense adrenergic innervation of the embryonic chick ovarian medulla and its steroidogenic interstitial cells, and suggest the chick ovary as an excellent model for elucidating the functional role of a neural input to steroidogenic cells during development.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Pharmacological effects of nerve growth factor and fibroblast growth factor applied to the transectioned sciatic nerve on neuron death in adult rat dorsal root ganglia.

Sciatic nerve transection performed on adult rats caused neuronal losses after 4 weeks in the L4-6 dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of 35% as compared to the unlesioned side. Nerve growth factor (NGF) administered at a single dose of 6000 Biological Units in silicone tubes fixed to the proximal nerve stump completely prevented these cell losses. Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) also protected DRG neurons, but at the concentrations applied (6000 Trophic Units, tested on embryonic chick ciliary ganglion neurons), failed to maintain cell numbers identical to unoperated side. Our data indicate that NGF and bFGF protect adult sensory neurons from lesion-induced death. Preliminary results suggest that local accumulation of neurotrophic activities at the proximal nerve stump elicited by NGF and, possibly bFGF, might be involved in the beneficial effects of these proteins on the maintenance of axotomized sensory neurons.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Neuron-enriched cultures of adult rat dorsal root ganglia: establishment, characterization, survival, and neuropeptide expression in response to trophic factors.

It is unknown whether adult dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons require trophic factors for their survival and maintenance of neuropeptide phenotypes. We have established and characterized neuron-enriched cultures of adult rat DRGs and investigated their responses to nerve growth factor (NGF), ciliary neuronotrophic factor (CNTF), pig brain extract (PBE, crude fraction of brain-derived neuronotrophic factor, BDNF), and laminin (LN). DRGs were dissected from levels C1 through L6 and dissociated and freed from myelin fragments and most satellite (S-100-immunoreactive) cells by centrifugation on Percoll and preplating. The enriched neurons, characterized by their morphology and immunoreactivity for neuron-specific enolase, constituted a population representative of the in vivo situation with regard to expression of substance P (SP), somatostatin (SOM), and cholecystokinin-8 (CCK) immunoreactivities. In the absence of trophic factors and using polyornithine (PORN) as a substratum, 60-70% of the neurons present initially (0.5 days) had died after 7 days. LN as a substratum did not prevent a 30% loss of neurons up to day 4.5, but it subsequently maintained DRG neurons at a plateau. This behavior might reflect a cotrophic effect of LN and factors provided by non-neuronal cells, whose proliferation between 4.5 and 7 days could not be prevented by addition of mitotic inhibitors of gamma-irradiation. CNTF, but not NGF, slightly enhanced survival at 7 days on either PORN or LN. No neuronal losses were found in non-enriched cultures or when enriched neurons were supplemented with PBE, indicating that non-neuronal cells and PBE provide factor(s) essential for adult DRG neuron survival. Proportions of SP-, SOM-, and CCK-immunoreactive cells were unaltered under any experimental condition, with the exception of a numerical decline in SP cells in 7-day cultures with LN, but not PORN, as the substratum. Our data, considered in the context of recent in vivo and vitro studies, suggest that a combination of trophic factors or an unidentified factor, rather than the established molecules NGF, CNTF, and BDNF, which address embryonic and neonatal DRG neurons, are required for the in vitro maintenance of adult DRG neurons.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Cytochemical and biochemical characterization of neurosecretory material in the brain of an annelid, Ophryotrocha puerilis (Polychaeta).

In the brain of the protandric annelid Ophryotrocha, prominent axon terminals accumulate neurosecretory material in female-phase individuals. This material is not present in females after they have had social contact for 2 days and in males. After treatment with Formalin or glyoxylic acid, the axon terminals in isolated females are brightly fluorescent. The injection of reserpine into the coelomic cavity of such females prevents the development of fluorescence in the nerve endings. In an HPLC study of brains containing axon terminals filled with neurosecretory material, catecholamines were found to be present in large quantities. In specimens with empty axon terminals, the amount of catecholamines was significantly less. Thus the secretory material appears to contain catecholamines. The results presented suggest dopamine to be the major component of the neurosecretory material.

Animals↗

PubMed1985

Nerve growth factor and dexamethasone specify the catecholaminergic phenotype of cultured rat chromaffin cells: dependence on developmental stage.

Antibodies to epinephrine (E) and bovine phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT) have been used to monitor the regulation of the E- and PNMT-immunoreactive chromaffin cell phenotypes by dexamethasone (DEX) and nerve growth factor (NGF). The cells were isolated from 1-, 10- and 30-day-old (D1, D10 and D30) rat adrenal glands and grown for 4 days on a polyornithine substratum. DEX (10(-5)M) supported the survival of 90% of the cells from all postnatal ages studied. In contrast, only 45% (D1), 33% (D10) and 60% (D30) of the chromaffin cells had survived after 4 days in control cultures or when treated with NGF (100 ng/ml). Throughout this study numbers of E-immunoreactive cells were approximately 10% larger than those of cells stained by anti-PNMT antibodies irrespective of the treatments applied. 55% of the cells isolated at D1 and 79% of the cells at D10 were stained by anti-E antibodies. The proportion of E-positive cells was constant in D1 cultures carried for 4 days, while E-immunoreactive cells dropped to 63% in cultures from D10. At D1 and D10 DEX and NGF had opposite effects on the portions of E-positive cells, DEX increasing and NGF decreasing their relative numbers, 66% of the chromaffin cells isolated at D30 displayed E-specific immunoreactivity. DEX caused a significant increase (to 74%), while both NGF-treated and control cultures exhibited a decrease in the relative numbers of E-immunoreactive cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adrenal Medulla↗