Elsevier

Brain Research

Volume 12, Issue 1, January 1969, Pages 54-73
Brain Research

Alterations in the fine structure of nucleoli in sympathetic neurons following NGF-antiserum treatment

https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-8993(69)90055-9Get rights and content

Summary

Antiserum to the nerve growth factor (NGF) produces a severe cytotoxic effect on sympathetic nerve cells when injected into newborn mice. The early cytological lesions were studied by electron microscopy in superior cervical ganglia of 1-day-old mice 12 and 24 h after antiserum treatment. In line with previous observations, early and marked ultrastructural changes were observed in the nuclear compartment. Alterations in the fine structure of nucleoli of the nerve cells are very prominent by 12 h after the As injection. The early alterations consist of condensation and disarrangement of the nucleolar components, which become progressively more severe in the following hours. Distinct dense bodies form from the separation and condensation of the nucleolar material and eventually the nuclear envelope breaks down and cytoplasmic and nuclear material mix. In later stages, marked disorganization of ribosomes and mitochondria is apparent in the cell cytoplasm. Incorporation experiments show that RNA synthesis is markedly reduced in the experimental ganglia already 12 h after the As injection.

References (12)

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (39)

  • Ethanol causes and lithium prevents neuroapoptosis and suppression of pERK in the infant mouse brain

    2008, Neurobiology of Disease
    Citation Excerpt :

    To the best of our knowledge, there are no prior studies demonstrating in the in vivo developing brain that lithium stimulates ERK phosphorylation or that increased phosphorylation of ERK is protective against drug-induced developmental neuroapoptosis. The neuroapoptosis literature is massive, but models for inducing apoptotic neurodegeneration in the in vivo developing nervous system are scarce, the two best characterized examples being the phenomenon under investigation herein, and degeneration of sympathetic neurons induced by trophic factor deprivation, as originally described by Levi-Montalcini et al. (1969) and others (Sabatini et al., 1965). As Dikranian et al. (2001, 2005) recently pointed out, these two phenomena have identical ultrastructural characteristics and both meet all of the morphological criteria originally stipulated by Wyllie et al. (1980) for recognizing apoptosis.

View all citing articles on Scopus
*

Permanent address: Istituto di Patologia Generale, Universita´di Roma, Rome, Italy.

View full text