Abstract
NERVE GROWTH FACTOR (NGF) is essential for the development of sympathetic nerve cells1. The richest known source of NGF is the submaxillary gland of the adult male mouse2, and NGF from this source has been completely purified and thoroughly characterised3. The active entity (β-subunit) is a protein comprising a dimer of identical 118-residue chains4,5. Another form of mouse NGF, the 2.5S form, has been isolated6 and shown to differ from the β entity in that some of the monomeric chains have undergone enzymatic cleavage of the amino-terminal octapeptide and carboxy-terminal arginine residues3,4,7–9. The 2.5S dimer therefore contains both 118-residue chains and shortened chains. The salivary gland of the mouse seems to be unique in that the corresponding glands of the rat, guinea pig, cow, pig, rabbit and man contain no NGF10,11. No other clearly characterised source of NGF in mammalian tissue in vivo has been reported. We now report a new, rich source of NGF–the prostate glands of the adult male guinea pig.
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HARPER, G., BARDE, Y., BURNSTOCK, G. et al. Guinea pig prostate is a rich source of nerve growth factor. Nature 279, 160–162 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/279160a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/279160a0
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