NGF treatment potentiates c-fos expression in the rat nucleus basalis upon excitotoxic lesion with quisqualic acid

The induction of the c-fos gene in the rat brain by NGF was studied in a model of acute cholinergic hypofunction, i.e., the lesion of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM) with quisqualic acid. Choline acetyltransferase and Fos immunoreactivity (IR) in the NBM were analyzed at different times after the excitotoxic lesion. NGF treatment induced a potentiation of Fos expression 4 and 24 h after lesion. The possibility is discussed that c-fos induction is one of the early mechanisms of the neuroprotective action of NGF.