Neuronal defects and delayed wound healing in mice lacking fibroblast growth factor 2

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.95.10.5672
• Publication Date: 2002-07-26T14:40:11Z
• Authors: Sagrario Ortega; Michael Ittmann; Stephen H. Tsang; Michelle Ehrlich; Claudio Basilico
• Keywords: Mice, Knockout; Neurons; 0301 basic medicine; Mice; Wound Healing; 03 medical and health sciences; Animals; Cell Count; Fibroblast Growth Factor 2; Neocortex; Skin

Basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF2) is a wide-spectrum mitogenic, angiogenic, and neurotrophic that expressed at low levels in many tissues cell types reaches high concentrations brain pituitary. FGF2 has been implicated multitude of physiological pathological processes, including limb development, angiogenesis, wound healing, tumor growth, but its role still unclear. To determine the function vivo , we have generated knockout mice, lacking all three isoforms, by homologous recombination embryonic stem cells. −/− mice are viable, fertile phenotypically indistinguishable from +/+ littermates gross examination. However, abnormalities cytoarchitecture neocortex, most pronounced frontal motor-sensory area, can be detected histological immunohistochemical methods. A significant reduction neuronal density observed layers motor cortex with layer V being affected. Cell normal other regions such as striatum hippocampus. In addition, healing excisional skin wounds delayed FGF2. These results indicate FGF2, although not essential for plays specific cortical neurogenesis which, spite apparent redundancy FGF signaling, cannot carried out family members.