title: Expression of nerve growth factor in rat stomach. Implications for interactions between endothelial, neural and epithelial cells.
abstract: This study was aimed to determine the expression and localization of nerve growth factor (NGF) in the gastric mucosa. Transmural gastric specimens were obtained from euthanized rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  1) expression of NGF and TrkA receptor by Western blotting; 2) histological evaluation of gastric wall architecture; 3) expression of NGF using immunostaining. Immunostaining showed strong and differential expression of NGF in neural elements of gastric myenteric and submucosal plexuses; in epithelial cells: mainly in chief and progenitor cells, in enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cells; and, in endothelial cells (ECs) lining blood vessels. We concluded that NGF expression in neural elements, epithelial cells and endothelial cells of blood vessels indicated a complex local interaction between neural, epithelial and endothelial cells that regulated gastric mucosal homeostasis and, likely, the protection against gastric injury and ulcer healing.
authors.affiliation: Medical and Research Services, Veterans Affairs Long Beach Healthcare System (VALBHS), Long Beach, California, USA. atarnawski@yahoo.com.|Department of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, California, USA.
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Tarnawski
authors.affiliation: Medical and Research Services, Veterans Affairs Long Beach Healthcare System (VALBHS), Long Beach, California, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahluwalia
authors.affiliation: Medical and Research Services, Veterans Affairs Long Beach Healthcare System (VALBHS), Long Beach, California, USA.|Department of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, California, USA.
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Cracow, Poland.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brzozowski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D020932:Nerve Growth Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D020932:Nerve Growth Factor