Nerve growth factor-mediated induction of tyrosine hydroxylase in rat superior cervical ganglia in vitro.

Exposure of rat sympathetic ganglia to 3 microgram/ml of 2.5 S nerve growth factor (NGF) resulted in a 100% increase in tyrosine hydroxylase activity within 48 h. Pulselabeling of proteins with [3H]leucine, followed by immunoprecipitation with antibodies to tyrosine hydorxylase and isolation of the precipitated enzyme by gel electrophoresis, demonstrated that the increase in tyrosine hydroxylase activity was due to enhanced de novo synthesis. The incorporation of [3H]leucine into tyrosine hydroxylase was increased by 150% compared to a 17% increase in total protein synthesis, which was not statistically significant. The fact that the half-life of pulse-labeled tyrosine hydroxylase was the same for NGF-treated and control organ cultures of superior cervical ganglia excludes the possibility that enhanced tyrosine hydroxylase labeling by NGF is due to decreased degradation. We conclude that, without modulatory factors which play a role in vivo, NGF can enhance the synthesis of tyrosine hydroxylase in sympathetic ganglia in vitro, provided organ culture conditions which permit optimal survival of adrenergic neurons are selected.