title: Nerve growth factor levels in developing rat skin: upregulation following skin wounding.
abstract: Levels of nerve growth factor (NGF) in rat hindpaw skin, measured with a sensitive two-site enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, show two peaks during normal development. The first (57 +/- 5 pg mg-1) occurs at embryonic days (E) 18-20 and coincides with the arrival of axon terminals into the hindpaw skin. The second, larger peak (132 +/- 10 pg mg-1), occurs later, around postnatal day (P) 21 and may be involved in maintenance of neuronal phenotype. Levels outside the two peaks stay relatively constant throughout development (30 pg mg-1). Skin wounding at birth produces a marked increase in NGF levels (149 +/- 25 pg mg-1) which declines after 4 days. This large increase is not observed if wounding is performed at older ages and may underlie the sensory hyperinnervation that accompanies neonatal wounds.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, University College, London, UK.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Constantinou
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Woolf
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Safieh-Garabedian
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D005528:Foot; D006614:Hindlimb; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats / Q000196:embryology; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012867:Skin / Q000196:embryology / Q000293:injuries* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D009414:Nerve Growth Factors