Astrocytes respond to a reduction of extracellular Nerve Growth Factor levels by a phosphorylation of TrkA in the endoplasmic reticulum: a microarray transcriptome study

The discovery that other cells besides neurons, like the glia cells, could respond to NGF and modulate the neuronal physiology broadened the possible NGF targets to potentially all the brain, boosting the comprehension of neuronal pathologies - like Alzheimer's disease - and supporting more therapeutical strategies. This microarray transcriptome analysis of primary astrocytes was performed to demonstrate a direct modulation of NGF activity on astrocyte cells. We investigated this modulation by neutralizing extracellular NGF by the alfaD11 monoclonal antibody and measuring the gene expression profile. Data analysis was performed using R-Bioconductor. A total of n=8 samples were processed. The samples are divided into 3 experimental groups: anti-NGF alfaD11 antibody treated samples (n=4), naive cells control samples (n=2), anti-V5 antibody treated control samples (n=2). Samples were treated for 24h.