Recent work in this laboratory has shown that a variety of cancer cells secrete nerve growth factor. In particular, mouse L cells secrete large quantities of the factor in culture. Further, the chemical properties of L-cell NGF are different from any form of NGF that has so far been studied. Our study is: (1) to grow large quantities of L cells; (2) to isolate and to completely purify the NGF secreted by these cells; (3) to determine the molecular properties and structure of this protein; and (4) to ascertain whether this naturally occurring form of NGF has biological actions that have heretofore not been recognized, both within the nervous system as well as outside of it. Further work will completely purify human nerve growth factor from serum to characterize it chemically and to develop specific immunoassays for it. Such assays then will permit the specific measurement of NGF in man. More recent studies have shown that NGF can significantly promote the healing of experimentally induced wounds in animals, that it can substitute specifically for the first component of human complement, and that it is chemotactic for leukocytes. These findings indicate that NGF may play an important role in systems other than neural tissue. The chemical and biological meaning of this new information is under study at present. (J)
