title: Altered levels of nerve growth factor in the thymus of subjects with myasthenia gravis.
abstract: We have previously reported that nerve growth factor (NGF), a polypeptide known for its neurotrophic activities, is also involved in the differentiation and survival of immune cells, and that NGF and its high-affinity receptor are present in the thymus. We here demonstrate that the thymus of humans affected by myasthenia gravis (MG) contains significant concentrations of NGF. These observations support our hypothesis of a role for NGF in the thymus and suggest that the changes observed in the thymus of subject with MG may have functional significance.
authors.affiliation: Section of Neurobiology, Institute of Neurobiology and Molecular Medicine, CNR, Viale Marx, 15/43, Rome-I-00137, Italy.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stampachiacchiere
authors.forename: Tsvetana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Marinova
authors.forename: Kamelia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Velikova
authors.forename: Stanislav
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Philipov
authors.forename: Ivan S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Stankulov
authors.forename: George N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Chaldakov
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fiore
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Aloe
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008407:Mast Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D020932:Nerve Growth Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D020932:Nerve Growth Factor