BACKGROUND Postoperative intra-abdominal adhesions are common complications after abdominal surgery. The exact molecular mechanisms that are responsible for these complications remain unclear, and there are no effective methods for preventing adhesion formation or reformation. The aim of the study reported here was to investigate the preventive effects and underlying potential molecular mechani...

During the development and regeneration of skeletal muscle, many growth factors, such as basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF, FGF-2) and myostatin, have been shown to play regulating roles. bFGF contributes to promote proliferation and to inhibit differentiation of skeletal muscle, whereas myostatin plays a series of contrasting roles. In order to elucidate whether the expression of bFGF has a...

Heparin is a highly sulfated polysaccharide that regulates a variety of cellular processes by interaction with a host of proteins. We report the preparation of synthetic heparin oligosaccharide glycodendrimers and their use as heparin mimetics to regulate heparin-protein interactions. The multivalent display of sugar epitopes mimics the naturally occurring glycans found on cell surfaces and enh...

In the rat spinal cord, we found substantial co-existence of fibroblast growth factor-2, fibroblast growth factor receptor (type-1 or flg) immunoreactivity and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)-diaphorase activity (a histochemical marker for neuronal nitric oxide synthase) in preganglionic autonomic cell groups of intermediate layers VI, VII and X. Anti-fibroblast grow...

The purification of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) from bovine brain has led to the isolation of two peptides. FGF-1 with 128 amino acids and FGF-2 with 107 amino acids. The biological activity of these two peptides is acid- and heat-labile. As indicated by the amino acid composition of FGF-1 and -2, these two peptides are derived from a common precursor and bear no resemblance to pituitary...