title: Prominent expression of acidic fibroblast growth factor in motor and sensory neurons.
abstract: Several growth factors originally characterized and named for their action on a variety of cells have more recently been suggested to be importantly involved in the development and maintenance of the nervous system. Acidic fibroblast growth factor (aFGF) is a member of a family of seven structurally related polypeptide growth factors. The cells responsible for expression of aFGF in the nervous system of adult rats have been identified using an affinity-purified antibody to aFGF in immunohistochemical studies and synthetic oligonucleotide probes for in situ hybridization studies. High levels of aFGF expression were observed in motoneurons, primary sensory neurons, and retinal ganglion neurons. Glial cells did not express detectable amounts of aFGF. Confocal and electron microscopic analysis suggested that a large portion of aFGF immunoreactivity was associated with the cytoplasmic face of neuronal membranes, consistent with the hypothesis that aFGF is a sequestered growth factor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology and Neurobiology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Elde
authors.forename: Y H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cintra
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Brelje
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pelto-Huikko
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Junttila
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fuxe
authors.forename: R F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Pettersson
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hökfelt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000378:metabolism; D016220:Fibroblast Growth Factor 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D015870:Gene Expression; D008297:Male; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D009441:Neurilemma / Q000378:metabolism; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000378:metabolism*; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000378:metabolism; D017468:Receptors, Fibroblast Growth Factor; D012160:Retina / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D017468:Receptors, Fibroblast Growth Factor; D016220:Fibroblast Growth Factor 1