The current working model for fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) dimerization and activation requires the assembly of a ternary complex of fibroblast growth factor (FGF), FGFR, and heparin or heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) on the plasma membrane. The recent FGF2-FGFR1-heparin crystal structure provides a detailed but static view of the FGF-FGFR-heparin complex. However, the kinetics ...

Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptor (FGFR) consists extracellularly of three immunoglobulin (Ig) modules (Ig1-3). Currently, there are two competing models (symmetric and asymmetric) of the FGF-FGFR-heparin complex based on crystal structures. Indirect evidence exists in support of both models. However, it is not clear which model is physiologically relevant. Our aim was to obtain direct, n...

In patients on long-term continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis, the efficiency of dialysis declines because of peritoneal neovascularization and loss of peritoneal mesothelial cells. In this study, we investigated the influence of lactate and bicarbonate in peritoneal dialysis fluid on such changes of the peritoneum. We studied the production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and...

A comparison of colony-formation efficiency (CFE) was made between six independent bovine fetal fibroblast (BFF) cell lines used in somatic cell nuclear transfer. Variation in CFE was assessed under different culture conditions. The conditions examined were ambient atmosphere (approximately 20% oxygen) culture versus 5% oxygen culture, three levels of fetal bovine serum (FBS) in the medium (5%,...

In this set of experiments, we examined a number of variables that are crucial to determining the effects of fibroblast growth factor-9 (FGF9) on affective behavior. Animals were injected on post-natal day two (PND2) to determine whether a single early-life subcutaneous (s.c.) injection had long-lasting effects on adult behavior as was observed with FGF2. We observed no significant changes in a...

The individual feathers in the skin of a developing chicken embryo are arranged in a precise array within a series of so-called 'tracts'. The images above show nascent feather buds in the legs of embryos at 8–9 days of incubation. Buds are added sequentially across the forming feather tract, as shown by the range of developmental stages in the image at top left. (In all three upper images, buds...

The objective of this study was to clarify the relative roles of medial versus luminal factors in the induction of thickening of the arterial intima after balloon angioplasty injury. Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and thrombin, both associated with thrombosis, and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), stored in the arterial wall, have been implicated in this process. To unequivocally is...

In high-density myoblast cultures S100B enhances basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) receptor 1 (FGFR1) signaling via binding to bFGF and blocks its canonical receptor, receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE), thereby stimulating proliferation and inhibiting differentiation. Here we show that upon skeletal muscle injury S100B is released from myofibers with maximum release at day ...

Dissociated primary cultures from rat telencephalon at different developmental stages were used to study the effect of basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF2) on Otx2, Dlx1, and Emx1, three homeobox genes expressed in different regions of the developing mammalian forebrain. At embryonic day (E)13.5. the regional pattern of expression of Otx1, Otx2, Dlx1, Dlx2, Dlx5, and Emx1 is maintained in prim...