Intraventricular injections of the fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) are known to increase the size of the optic tectum in embryonic chicks. Here we show that this increase in tectum size is due to a delay in tectal neurogenesis, which by definition extends the proliferation of tectal progenitors. Specifically, we use cumulative labeling with the thymidine analog EdU to demonstrate that FGF2 tr...

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) differentiate into numerous different cell types and thus have therapeutic potential for tissue engineering, anti‑inflammatory and immunomodulatory purposes. FGF2 may affect the biological behavior of MSCs. MSCs were transduced with either adenovirus‑null vector/green fluorescent protein (GFP) or a vector encoding for the overexpression of FGF2/GFP. The expression ...

Pathological cardiac hypertrophy and cardiac fibrosis are remodeling events that result in mechanical stiffness and pathophysiological changes of the myocardium. Both humans and animal models display a sexual dimorphism where females are more protected from pathological remodeling. Fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) mediates cardiac hypertrophy, cardiac fibrosis and protection against cardiac in...

Basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF2) is a potent wide-spectrum mitogen whose overexpression is associated with immortalization and unregulated cell proliferation in many tumors. The FGF2 gene locus is bi-directionally transcribed to produce FGF2 mRNA from the "sense" strand and a cis-antisense RNA (NUDT6) from the NUDT6 gene on the "antisense" strand. The NUDT6 gene encodes a nudix motif prote...

LYVE-1 (lymphatic vessel endothelial hyaluronan receptor-1) is a homolog of the hyaluronan receptor CD44, and one of the most widely used markers of lymphatic endothelial cells in normal and tumor tissues. However, the physiologic role of LYVE-1 in the lymphatic system still remains unclear. It is well established that fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) induces lymphangiogenesis. Based on the kn...

Neurotrophin 3 (NT3), a member of the neurotrophin family, antagonizes the proliferative effect of fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) on cortical precursors. However, the mechanism by which NT3 inhibits FGF2-induced neural progenitor (NP) cell proliferation is unclear. Here, using an FGF2-dependent rat neurosphere culture system, we found that NT3 inhibits both FGF2-induced neurosphere growth an...

Obesity is highly heritable, but the specific genes influencing obesity related traits are largely unknown. Fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) could influence adipocyte differentiation. However, the association of FGF2 polymorphisms and obesity remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the associations of both the plasma FGF2 levels and SNPs in FGF2 gene with obesity phenotypes in Han Chi...

The long pentraxin PTX3 is a soluble pattern recognition receptor produced by monocytes and endothelial cells that plays a nonredundant role in inflammation. Several pathologic conditions are characterized by local production of both PTX3 and the angiogenic fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2). Here, solid-phase binding assays demonstrated that PTX3 binds with high affinity to FGF2 but not to a pa...

Matrix Gla protein (MGP) is a member of the vitamin K-dependent gamma carboxylase protein family expressed in cartilage. Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF1) stimulates chondrocyte differentiation, whereas basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF2) acts in an opposite manner. We explored the differential expression and regulation by IGF1 and FGF2 of the MGP gene during chondrocyte differentiation. We...

Among its many biological roles, fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2) acutely protects the heart from dysfunction associated with ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Our laboratory has demonstrated that this is due to the activity of the low molecular weight (LMW) isoform of FGF2 and that FGF2-mediated cardioprotection relies on the activity of protein kinase C (PKC); however, which PKC isoforms ar...