[Effect of basic FGF on the proliferation of rat neuroblasts in culture]

Cultures highly enriched in neuronal cells, derived from brain hemispheres of 13-day-old rat embryo, were used. In these cultures, neuroblasts proliferate during the first 3 days in vitro. The addition of the astroglial growth factor (AGF2), also known as basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), 4 hrs. after seeding, induces a strong increase of [125I]-deoxyuridine incorporation. We checked by autoradiography combined with specific immunocytochemical staining of the neurones, using an anti-neurofilament antibody, that the number of proliferating neuroblasts is increased after the treatment. These results demonstrate that AGF2, or bFGF, is a mitogenic factor for rat neuroblasts in culture.