title: Never ending growth and a growth factor. I. Immunocytochemical evidence for the presence of basic fibroblast growth factor in a tapeworm.
abstract: Basic fibroblast growth factor immunoreactivity (bFGF-IR) was detected in a specific set of nerve cells in the central nervous system of the gull-tapeworm Diphyllobothrium dendriticum (Cestoda)--an obligatory endoparasite. The long varicose processes of the bFGF-IR neurons extend along the two main nerve cords, which contain an actively growing population of nerve cells. A neurotrophic function for the bFGF-like material is proposed. The adult tapeworm lives in the intestine of a homeothermic host and has a pattern of very active and never ending growth. The larval stages live in poikilothermic hosts and grow very slowly. The bFGF-IR nerve cells occur both in II stage larvae and in adult worms. Thus, no correlation between the presence of bFGF-IR and the general growth rate of the worm was found. Western blot analysis revealed the presence of an anti-bFGF immunoreactive peptide with a molecular mass of 47 kDa in both larval and adult worms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Abo Akademi University, Finland.
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Gustafsson
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eriksson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D004170:Diphyllobothrium / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007814:Larva / Q000378:metabolism; D008938:Mitosis; D009420:Nervous System / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2