Basic fibroblast growth factor up-regulates the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in primary cultured rat astrocytes.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the effect of recombinant human basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) on the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in primary cultured rat astrocytes.


METHODS
Semiquantification PCR (SQ-PCR) and immunocytochemistry were used to investigate the effect of bFGF on VEGF mRNA level and protein level, respectively.


RESULTS
Treatment with bFGF dose-dependently increased the VEGF mRNA level in astrocytes. The up-regulation of VEGF mRNA induced by bFGF (10 micrograms/L) was detected as short as 3-h treatment. The increase of VEGF mRNA level reached the maximum after 24-h treatment with bFGF. The immunocytochemical staining showed that the VEGF protein level in astrocytes also increased after the cells were incubated with bFGF.


CONCLUSIONS
bFGF induced a marked time- and concentration-dependent increase in VEGF expression in primary cultured astrocytes, suggesting that the effect of bFGF on angiogenesis in brain may act partly by up-regulating VEGF expression in astrocytes.
Department of Pharmacology I, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
X
X
Liu
S X
SX
Zheng
L J
LJ
Zhou
X Z
XZ
Zhu
D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008222:Lymphokines / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D015854:Up-Regulation; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D042442:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors
D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors; D008222:Lymphokines; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D042442:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2