Purification of a fibroblast growth factor from bovine pituitary

The purification from bovine pituitary gland of a growth factor responsible for the control of animal cell division in tissue culture is reported. This growth factor is a polypeptide of 13,300 molecular weight and is homogeneous when analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, carboxymethyl-Sephadex gradient elution chromatography, and Sephadex G-50 chromatography. The yield of growth factor is 5 mg per kg of pituitary. It is active in stimulating DNA synthesis in 3T3 cells at concentrations as low as 2 times 10-13 M with saturation at 1 times 10-10 M.