Nerve growth factor enhances the expression of the cholinergic-specific ganglioside Chol-1 in cocultures of rat septum and hippocampus.

Cocultures of septal and hippocampal tissues taken from 6- to 7-day-old rats were maintained in culture for up to 30 days in the presence and absence of nerve growth factor (NGF), and their Chol-1 contents determined at varying time intervals by a modified enzyme-linked immunosorption assay (ELISA). The major brain gangliosides were determined densitometrically after spraying chromatograms with resorcinol reagent. There was little change in the contribution of the major gangliosides to the total ganglioside content of the explants either with time or the presence or absence of NGF, the only exception being an NGF-insensitive fall in the contribution of GM1 to about 60% of its initial value at 20 and 30 days. By contrast, the concentration of Chol-1 expressed either per unit weight of ganglioside sialic acid or protein increased considerably in culture and this increase was enhanced by NGF. The effect of NGF resembles that on other cholinergic markers, choline acetyltransferase and acetylcholinesterase, and may be attributed to an NGF-stimulated hippocampal ingrowth of cholinergic fibres and enhanced survival of cholinergic septal neurons. The Chol-1 concentration finally attained in the presence of NGF and the time course of its increase parallel those previously found in vivo and indicate the potential usefulness of septal-hippocampal cocultures for investigating the function of Chol-1.