An in vitro assessment of growth promoting activity of a synthetic basic fibroblast growth factor (b-FGF) using Rama-27 cell line

AbstractGrowth factors (GFs) are naturally occurring proteins or steroid hormones which act as signaling molecules between cells that play a key role in the processes of proliferation, cell differentiation and maturation of a wide variety of cells and tissues. A recently purified synthetic basic b-FGF was assessed using a routine tissue culture assay via application of a wide range of doses ranged between 0.1 and 300ng/mL of the basic fibroblast growth factor (b-FGF) in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) and 10% fetal calf serum (FCS) on the growth rate of Rama-27 mammary cell line. Applying SPSS “Student T-test” biostatistics the result showed significant increase (p≤0.05), almost 7 folds in tissue proliferation at a low dose of 0.3ng/mL FGF in comparison with control tissue (PBS) only. It is concluded that 0.3ng/mL dose represents the lower optimal dose suggesting its possibility of an in vivo technique to test its potency in curing skin wounds in rats

GABA and glycine-like immunoreactivity at axoaxonic synapses on 1a muscle afferent terminals in the spinal cord of the rat

The object of this study was to analyze the synaptic interactions of identified muscle spindle afferent axon terminals in the spinal cord of the rat. Group 1a muscle afferents supplying the gastrocnemius muscle were impaled with microelectrodes in the dorsal white matter of the spinal cord and stained by intracellular injection with Neurobiotin. Postembedding immunogold techniques were used to reveal GABA- and glycine-like immunoreactivity in boutons presynaptic to afferent terminals in the ventral horn and the deep layers of the dorsal horn. Serial-section reconstruction was used to reveal the distribution of synaptic contacts of different types on the afferent terminals. The majority of afferent boutons received axoaxonic and made axodendritic or axosomatic synaptic contacts. In the ventral horn, 91% of boutons presynaptic to the afferent terminals were immunoreactive for GABA alone and 9% were immunoreactive for both GABA and glycine. The mean number of axo-axonic contacts received per terminal was 2.7, and the mean number of synaptic contacts at which the terminal was the presynaptic element was 1.4. In the deep layers of the dorsal horn, 58% of boutons presynaptic to afferent terminals were immunoreactive for GABA alone, 31% were immunoreactive for GABA and glycine, and 11% for glycine alone. The mean number of axoaxonic contacts received per afferent terminal in this region was 1.6 and the mean number of synaptic contacts at which the terminal was the presynaptic element was 0.86. This clearly establishes the principle that activity in 1a afferents is modulated by several neurochemically distinct populations of presynaptic neuron