Injury to the peripheral processes produces a profound cell loss (40-50%) in the dorsal root ganglion of newborn rats. Although division of central processes produces little or no cellular change in sensory ganglion of adult animals, no information has been available on the effect of dorsal root section in developing dorsal root ganglion. We show that 6 days after dorsal rhizotomy on newborn rats, there is a 50% decrease in neuronal number in L5 dorsal root ganglion. A combined central and peripheral lesion of the sensory process results in a greater decrease in neuronal number (70%). Both of these effects can be prevented by the concomitant treatment with nerve growth factor. We also demonstrate that 125I-Ia-labeled nerve growth factor is retrogradely transported with high selectivity from the spinal cord to the dorsal root ganglion via the dorsal roots. The results indicate that trophic support for developing sensory neurons is provided through the central processes. This is presumably due to the uptake and retrograde transport of a trophic factor by the terminals of the central processes. The data suggest that nerve growth factor may be the trophic factor.