by Rita Levi-Montalcini (Istituto di Neurobiologia, Italy)

Rita Levi-Montalcini obtained a degree in Medicine from the University of Turin, Italy, in 1936. Her career started in the same university. Since then she has held various positions in Italy and US. She has won numerous scientific awards including the Feltrinelli International Prize in Medicine (1969), International St. Vincent Award (1979), Lewis S Rosenstiel Award (1982), Louisa Gross Horwitz Award (1983), Lasker Award (1986), Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology (1986) and the United States Medal of Science (1987). She is currently the President of the Institute of Italian Encyclopedia.

This volume is a collection of articles written by Nobel Laureate Rita Levi-Montalcini and published from 1942 to 1995. Studies described in the first part set the stage for the discovery of a protein molecule which became known as the Nerve Growth Factor (NGF), described in detail in the second part. The NGF synthesized in minute amounts in all vertebrate tissues, plays an essential role in the differentiation and survival of several nerve cell populations in the peripheral and central nervous system. The discovery of the NGF was defined by the Nobel Foundation as a milestone in developmental neurobiology, and the author was awarded in 1986 with this prestigious award. Studies pursued in subsequent years and still in progress, have unveiled other fundamental properties of the NGF, described in the third part of this volume.

• A Nerve Growth-Stimulating Factor Isolated from Sarcomas 37 and 180 (S Cohen et al.)
• Destruction of the Sympathetic Ganglia in Mammals by an Antiserum to a Nerve Growth Protein (R Levi-Montalcini & B Booker)
• Growth Control of Nerve Cells by a Protein Factor and Its Antiserum (R Levi-Montalcini)
• Growth Regulation of Sympathetic Nervous System: Immunosympathectomy and Chemical Sympathectomy (P U Angeletti & R Levi-Montalcini)
• Biological Aspects of Specific Growth Promoting Factors (R Levi-Montalcini)
• Mast Cells Increase in Tissues of Neonatal Rats Injected with the Nerve Growth Factor (L Aloe & R Levi-Montalcini)
• Somatic and Behavioural Postnatal Effects of Fetal Injections of Nerve Growth Factor Antibodies in the Rat (L Aloe et al.)
• A Role for Nerve Growth Factor in Nervous, Endocrine and Immune Systems (R Levi-Montalcini et al.)
• Nerve Growth Factor and Autoimmune Diseases (L Aloe et al.)
• Update of the NGF Saga (R Levi-Montalcini et al.)
• and other papers