NERVE GROWTH-FACTOR (NGF)-MEDIATED PROTECTION OF NEURAL CREST CELLS FROM ANTIMITOTIC AGENT-INDUCED APOPTOSIS - THE ROLE OF THE LOW-AFFINITYNGF RECEPTOR

Prevention by nerve growth factor (NGF) of apoptotic death in neural c ells has been variously ascribed to binding of NGF to its low-affinity (p75) or high-affinity (trkA) receptor or to a cooperative interactio n between the two. In a series of studies using, in turn, neuroblastom a cell lines that express only p75, mutant NGF species that bind selec tively to either p75 or trkA, and a polyclonal antibody that binds to the NGF-binding domain of p75, we demonstrate that NGF binding to p75 is both necessary and sufficient for the abrogation of apoptosis in ne uroblastoma cells treated with antimitotic agents.