Aloe Luigi
Institute of Neurobiology and Molecular Medicine, Consiglio Nazionale delle ricerche, Rome, Italy.
Arch Ital Biol. 2011 Jun;149(2):175-81. doi: 10.4449/aib.v149i2.1377.
The nerve growth factor (NGF) is a signaling protein, discovered by Rita Levi-Montalcini in the early 1950's for its effect on growth and differentiation of specific populations of neurons of the peripheral nervous system. Originally identified as neurite outgrowth-stimulating factor, later studies revealed that the purified molecule has a number of target cells in the central nervous system and on nonneuronal cells. Moreover, recent studies showed the potential therapeutic properties of NGF in neuropathies of the central and peripheral nervous system and diseases of the eye and skin. Here I briefly describe the discovery of NGF, the early studies of Rita LeviMontalcini, a pioneer in modern neuroscience, and my scientific and human experience working in her laboratory for over 40 years.
神经生长因子（NGF）是一种信号蛋白，由丽塔·列维-蒙塔尔奇尼在20世纪50年代初发现，因其对周围神经系统特定神经元群体的生长和分化有影响。最初被鉴定为神经突生长刺激因子，后来的研究表明，纯化后的该分子在中枢神经系统和非神经元细胞中有许多靶细胞。此外，最近的研究显示了NGF在中枢和周围神经系统神经病变以及眼部和皮肤疾病中的潜在治疗特性。在此，我简要介绍一下NGF的发现、现代神经科学先驱丽塔·列维-蒙塔尔奇尼的早期研究，以及我在她的实验室工作40多年的科学和个人经历。
