NGF RETARDS APOPTOSIS IN CHICK-EMBRYO BURSAL CELL INVITRO

Recent studies have demonstrated that the action of nerve growth facto r (NGF) is not restricted to neuronal cells but also affects cells of the immune system. In a previous work on the effect of NGF on the chic k embryo bursa of Fabricius both in vivo and in vitro, we observed tha t NGF prolongs bursal cell survival in vitro. In the present study we report that the increase of viable cells in NGF-treated cultures is no t due to a proliferative effect of NGF on bursal cells but to a reduct ion of cell mortality. The morphological analysis revealed that bursal cells in cultures die by apoptosis, which was also shown by the typic al pattern of DNA fragmentation, a hallmark of this cell death process . It is concluded that NGF, with an action similar to that described i n sympathetic neurons and PC12, could retard bursal cell death by infl uencing apoptosis.