Novel fibroblast growth factor 2 transcripts are expressed in mouse embryos

We have discovered two new exons in the mouse fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2 or bFGF) gene that can be alternatively spliced to the second coding exon of the gene. The newly identified exons 1b and 1c are located at, respectively, approximately 19 and 32 kb downstream of the canonical exon 1a. Using RT-PCR analysis, mRNAs containing exon 1c and canonical exons 2 and 3 were identified in embryonic limb, placenta, face, carcass and ocular tissues. A 3.7-kb transcript present in placenta and embryonic limb hybridizes with an exon 1c-derived probe in Northern blot analysis. Alternative splicing of exon 1c to exon 2 creates a transcript for which the predicted alternative FGF-2 (altFGF-2) polypeptide contains a novel N-terminal domain. Our data indicate that in mouse embryos multiple novel mRNA variants are transcribed from the FGF-2 locus using alternative splicing. These data suggest that proteins arising from these alternative transcripts may play a role in mouse embryogenesis.