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The role of basic fibroblast growth factor in the survival of rostral and caudal cells in the developing cerebral cortex of the rat: An in vitro study

Ali, Samina Akhtar; (2000) The role of basic fibroblast growth factor in the survival of rostral and caudal cells in the developing cerebral cortex of the rat: An in vitro study. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London). Green open access

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Abstract

The cerebral cortex is generated through the proliferation of the epithelium lining the lateral ventricles of the telencephalon. Although the ventricular epithelium (VE) has a uniform appearance, evidence is mounting to suggest that the VE is heterogeneous population of cells. In support of this, we have demonstrated that dissociated cell cultures prepared from rostral regions of the embryonic cortex undergo cell death whilst their caudal counterparts survive for longer periods. Furthermore, our experiments have shown that in co-cultures, caudally derived cells are able to rescue rostral sister cells. This suggests that a factor is present in caudal cortical cells that is able to promote the survival of rostral cells. Evidence from basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) knockout animals has shown that there is a significant reduction in the thickness of the cerebral cortex indicating that bFGF may be one such signalling molecule. In an effort to identify neurotrophic factors involved in the survival of these cortical cells, we applied a range of growth factors and neurotrophins including bFGF to rostral cultures derived from embryonic day 17 cortices. Only bFGF significantly rescued the rostral cortical cells indicating that bFGF is a candidate factor produced by caudal cells. Caudal cells treated with genistein, to block the effects of bFGF, survived for shorter period than the untreated control cultures. We have described the distribution of FGFR 1 receptor and bFGF in rostral and caudal cortical cultures using immunocytochemistry. Western blotting and in situ hybridisation. We propose that caudal cells produce bFGF which acts in an autocrine manner to maintain their survival and is also the factor likely to be affecting rostral cells in vivo.

Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Qualification: Ph.D
Title: The role of basic fibroblast growth factor in the survival of rostral and caudal cells in the developing cerebral cortex of the rat: An in vitro study
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language: English
Additional information: Thesis digitised by ProQuest.
Keywords: Biological sciences; Health and environmental sciences; Ventricular epithelium
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10122584
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