Calamandrei G, Valanzano A, Alleva E
Laboratorio di Fisiopatologia di Organo e di Sistema, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
Ann Ist Super Sanita. 1993;29(1):185-96.
Polypeptide Growth Factors are protein molecules which regulate cell proliferation and/or differentiation. A number of different Growth Factors (GFs) have been identified and characterized in recent years, and they have been shown to control several physiological processes, such as growth, repair, differentiation, and development of specific cell populations. In particular Nerve Growth Factor, the best characterized among the about 30 GF molecules, is endowed with specific activities on cholinergic and peptidergic CNS neurons. Several GFs originally named according to their biological activity (Epidermal Growth Factor, EGF; Fibroblast Growth Factor: FGF; Transforming Growth Factor: TGF; Insulin-like Growth Factor: IGF) have been recently found in the central nervous system. The effects of in vivo GF administration on the ontogenesis of altricial rodents are reported. Indexes of neurobehavioral maturation are accelerated upon neonatal NGF and bFGF exposure, while a similar treatment with EGF exerts both growth-promoting and growth-inhibiting effects on mouse somatic and behavioral development. Administration of IGF appears to affect ultrasonic vocalization in mouse pups. Moreover, NGF given intracerebroventricularly to newborn mice anticipates both the appearance of the scopolamine-induced hyperactivity and the maturation of behaviours under cholinergic control. The present findings are in agreement with a model where different GFs can "switch on" developmental events leading sometimes to dramatic changes in the normal ontogenetic pattern.
多肽生长因子是调节细胞增殖和/或分化的蛋白质分子。近年来，已鉴定并表征了多种不同的生长因子（GFs），它们已被证明可控制多种生理过程，如特定细胞群体的生长、修复、分化和发育。特别是神经生长因子，在约30种GF分子中特征最明确，对胆碱能和肽能中枢神经系统神经元具有特定活性。最初根据其生物学活性命名的几种生长因子（表皮生长因子，EGF；成纤维细胞生长因子：FGF；转化生长因子：TGF；胰岛素样生长因子：IGF）最近在中枢神经系统中被发现。本文报道了体内给予生长因子对晚成性啮齿动物个体发育的影响。新生小鼠暴露于NGF和bFGF后，神经行为成熟指标加快，而用EGF进行类似处理对小鼠的躯体和行为发育既有促进生长的作用，也有抑制生长的作用。给予IGF似乎会影响幼鼠的超声波发声。此外，向新生小鼠脑室内注射NGF可提前出现东莨菪碱诱导的多动，并使胆碱能控制下的行为成熟。目前的研究结果与一个模型相符，即不同的生长因子可以“开启”发育事件，有时会导致正常个体发育模式发生显著变化。
