title: Directional growth of sympathetic nerve fibres in vitro towards enteric smooth muscle and heart from mice with congenital aganglionic colon and their normal littermates.
abstract: Neuronotrophic factors in tissues from normal mice and mice with hereditary aganglionic colon (s1/s1) were assayed by examining neurite extension in vitro from sympathetic ganglia (superior cervical and coeliac) towards explants of stomach, atrium and colon in co-culture. Directional growth of neurites from both ganglia towards all 3 target explants was observed. There were no statistically significant differences between normal and s1/s1 ganglia in the capacity to extend neurites, neither were there differences between the target tissues of these mice in ability to promote neurite extension from ganglia. Since it is known that in s1/s1 mice there is impaired migration of neuroblasts along the developing gut, we conclude that the mechanisms determining neurite extension in culture are different to those regulating neuroblast migration and early differentiation. Studies on normal mice revealed that antiserum to nerve growth factor (NGF) blocked the outgrowth of neurites towards atrium, and reduced but did not abolish the outgrowth towards stomach, suggesting that the gut muscle produces a factor trophic for sympathetic neurones which is immunochemically distinguishable from NGF.
mesh_terms: D000320:Adrenergic Fibers / Q000166:cytology*; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D003106:Colon / Q000294:innervation*; D046508:Culture Techniques; D005728:Ganglia, Sympathetic / Q000166:cytology*; D006321:Heart / Q000294:innervation*; D051379:Mice; D008818:Mice, Neurologic Mutants; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000502:physiology*; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D009432:Neural Crest / Q000166:cytology; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology; D013270:Stomach / Q000294:innervation
chemical_list: D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins