S100B protein has been shown to exert anti-myogenic and mitogenic effects in myoblast cultures through inhibition of the myogenic p38 MAPK and activation of the mitogenic ERK1/2. However, the receptor mediating these effects had not been identified. Here, we show that S100B increases and/or stabilizes the binding of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) to bFGF receptor 1 (FGFR1) by interacting...

The intestinal cell line I407 responds to basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) by upregulating cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) mRNA and protein expression and increasing PGE(2) production. bFGF treatment of I407 cells results in phosphorylation of p38, and the p38 inhibitor SB-203580 abrogates bFGF-induced PGE(2) synthesis. Wild-type p38alpha (p38alphaWT) and dominant-negative p38alpha (p38alphaDN) s...

Bladder hypertrophy is a general consequence of bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) and a typical phenomenon observed in clinical urologic diseases such as benign prostatic hyperplasia and neurogenic bladder. It is characterized by smooth muscle hyperplasia, altered extracellular matrix composition, and increased contractile function. Various growth factors are likely involved in hypertrophic path...

We demonstrated previously that heparin-derived hexasaccharides are the smallest fragments of the polysaccharide with comparable basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF)-modulating activity in vitro (Ishihara, M., Tyrrell, D.J., Stauber, G.B., Brown, S., Cousens, L., and Stack, R.J. (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 4675-4683. In this report, a specific hexasaccharide having high affinity for recombinant...

BACKGROUND Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is a potent mitogen; however, diabetes mellitus might impair its angiogenic property. Prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) is a potent vasodilator and improves endothelial function. Thus, PGE1 could potentiate the angiogenic properties of bFGF in patients with diabetes mellitus. METHODS AND RESULTS Streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice with unilateral hindli...

One of the trophic factors that has been implicated in initiating or facilitating growth in response to increased mechanical stress in several tissues and cell types is basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF; FGF-2). Although mammalian cardiac muscle cells express bFGF, it is not known whether it plays a role in mediating cardiac adaptation to increased load, nor how release of the cytosolic 18-k...

Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) induces cell proliferation and plasminogen activator (PA) activity in transformed fetal bovine aortic endothelial (FBAE) GM 7373 cells. A similar response is observed after treatment with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). In these cells, bFGF and TPA cause activation of protein kinase C (PKC), as demonstrated by the induction of the phosphorylatio...

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) are produced at sites of inflammation. Previously, we demonstrated that bFGF enhances leukocyte recruitment and endothelial cell adhesion molecule (CAM) expression during inflammation. Here, we investigated the influence of VEGF during acute inflammation and whether VEGF and bFGF cooperate to modulate leukocyte ...

We examined the expression of the basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) gene in cultured normal and tumor-derived human mammary epithelial cells at both the transcriptional and translational level. Northern blot analysis revealed three bFGF mRNA transcripts of 7.5, 4.4, and 2.2 kilobases in all four strains (donors) of normal cells (HMECs) we examined and in the immortal mammary cell line HBL-1...

Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) stimulates the proliferation of many cells and it is found in a wide variety of normal or transformed tissues. As demonstrated here, bFGF is also present in cultured human Ewing's sarcoma cells. Unexpectedly, however, bFGF isolated from these cells inhibits their own proliferation, indicating that bFGF can act as an endogenous (autocrine) growth inhibitor f...