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Differential Effects of Acidic and Basic Fibroblast Growth Factors on Spinal Cord Cholinergic, GABAergic, and Glutamatergic Neurons
Author(s) -
Sweetnam Paul M.,
Sa Henry R.,
White Linda A.,
Brass Barry J.,
Jaye Michael,
Whittemore Scott R.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of neurochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.75
H-Index - 229
eISSN - 1471-4159
pISSN - 0022-3042
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-4159.1991.tb02121.x
Subject(s) - glutamatergic , gabaergic , cholinergic , neuroscience , spinal cord , fibroblast growth factor , differential (mechanical device) , biology , inhibitory postsynaptic potential , chemistry , glutamate receptor , biochemistry , receptor , engineering , aerospace engineering
When spinal cord cultures from embryonic day 12 rats were cultured at low density, both acidic and basic fibroblast growth factors significantly increased neuronal survival and neurite outgrowth in a dose‐dependent manner. The effects of acidic fibroblast growth factor were independent of heparin, in contrast to its mitogenic effects on both NIH3T3 cells and cerebral cortical astrocytes. In high‐density cultures, acidic fibroblast growth factor increased choline acetyltransferase activity by 57%, glutamic acid decarboxylase activity by 58%, and aspartate aminotransferase activity by 65%. Basic fibroblast growth factor increased choline acetyltransferase activity by 73% and glutamic acid decarboxylase activity by 200% but decreased aspartate aminotransferase activity by 40%. Growing these cultures in the presence of a mitotic inhibitor did not significantly alter the effect of acidic or basic fibroblast growth factor on these enzyme activities. These results demonstrate that acidic and basic fibroblast growth factors differentially affect neurotransmitter enzyme levels of multiple classes of neurons, rather man having effects on a single neuronal population.