Death of sensory ganglion neurons after acute withdrawal of nerve growth factor in dissociated cell cultures.

The time course of dependence on nerve growth factor (NGF) for survival in sensory neurons in vitro was examined with microscopic and biochemical methods. Primary dorsal root ganglion (DRG) cultures from embryonic-day-15 (E-15) and day-19 (E-19) rats were maintained with standard dissociated cell culture techniques in the absence of most non-neuronal cells. After various times in culture, neurons were acutely deprived of neurotrophic support by changing to NGF-free medium and adding NGF antiserum to eliminate any residual NGF. Neuronal cultures were examined with phase microscopy; and, their metabolic activity was measured with a protein assay at various time points after NGF deprivation. E-15 neurons grown in culture for 5 days were exquisitely sensitive to acute NGF deprivation. By 12 h after NGF deprivation, neuronal morphology was severely disrupted and the majority of neurons appeared dead. E-15 neurons grown in culture for 8 or 11 days showed progressively less dependence on NGF for survival. These older neurons did not die until 24 and 48 h, respectively, following NGF withdrawal. Neurons grown in culture for 20 days did not show any morphologic changes by phase microscopy up to 4 days after NGF deprivation. Protein incorporation progressively decreased between 12 and 48 h after NGF withdrawal in E-15 neurons grown in culture for 5, 8, or 11 days.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)