During angiogenesis, endothelial cells react to stimulation with finely tuned signaling responses. The role of calcium-regulated signaling in angiogenesis has not been defined. This study investigated the calcium dependency of endothelial cell proliferation and invasion by using an inhibitor of ligand-stimulated calcium influx, CAI (carboxy-amidotriazole). Incubation with CAI significantly inhi...

OBJECTIVES A major impediment for recovery after mammalian spinal cord injury (SCI) is the glial scar formed by proliferating reactive astrocytes. Finding factors that may reduce glial scarring, increase neuronal survival, and promote neurite outgrowth are of major importance for improving the outcome after SCI. Exogenous fibroblast growth factor (Fgf) has been shown to decrease injury volume a...

Four well-defined heparan sulfate (HS) block copolymers containing S-domains (high sulfo group content) placed adjacent to N-domains (low sulfo group content) were chemoenzymatically synthesized and characterized. The domain lengths in these HS block co-polymers were ~40 saccharide units. Microtiter 96-well and three-dimensional cell-based microarray assays utilizing murine immortalized bone ma...

PURPOSE To investigate the effects of basic fibroblast and epidermal growth factor (FGF2 and EGF, respectively) on the survival and phenotypic expression of photoreceptors isolated from adult mammalian retinas. METHODS Primary cultures highly enriched in photoreceptors were prepared from adult domestic pig retinas and maintained in chemically defined medium. Cell culture composition was chara...

PURPOSE Fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2) has been implied in the development of myopia according to previous studies investigating FGF2 in the sclera and retinal pigment epithelium. This study measured retinal FGF2 gene expression in an animal model and also tested for the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in FGF2 and high myopia. METHODS The guinea pigs were assigne...

Control of cell-matrix adhesion has become an important issue in the regulation of stem cell function. In this study, a maltose-binding protein (MBP)-linked basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF2)-immobilised polystyrene surface (PS-MBP-FGF2) was applied as an artificial matrix to regulate integrin-mediated signalling. We sought to characterise human mesenchymal-stem cell (hMSC) behaviour in resp...

Heparan sulfate (HS) is a linear carbohydrate composed of polymerized uronate-glucosamine disaccharide units that decorates cell surface and secreted glycoproteins in the extracellular matrix. In mammals HS is subjected to differential sulfation by fifteen different heparan sulfotransferase (HST) enzymes of which Hs2st uniquely catalyzes the sulfation of the 2-O position of the uronate in HS. H...

Background: PI(4,5)P2 and tyrosine phosphorylation dependent unconventional secretion of FGF2 is mediated by direct translocation across the plasma membrane. Results: PI(4,5)P2 mediated membrane recruitment causes oligomerization of tyrosine phosphorylated FGF2 which, in turn, triggers the formation of a lipidic membrane pore. Conclusion: Membrane inserted FGF2 oligomers represent intermediates...

In our study [4], FGF2 and FGF2-neutralizing antibody were administered to animals with PAN nephropathy. After PAN injection, recombinant FGF2 Introduction (group F), FGF2-neutralizing antibody (group M) or the same volume of physiological saline (group C) was Recent studies point to an important role for podocytes injected for 4 days via the tail vein, and the animals in the physiology and pat...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 2 gene and fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) genes are associated with ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL). METHODS A total of 157 patients with OPLL and 222 controls were recruited for a case control association study investigating th...