Branching enhancement by basic fibroblast growth factor in cut neurite of hippocampal neurons.

Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) has strong neurotrophic effects both in vivo and in vitro on various brain neurons. bFGF enhanced the branching of laser beam-damaged axons of primary cultured hippocampal neurons with a suppression of the neurite's re-elongation. Conditioned medium prepared from astrocytes, on the contrary, prolonged the length of the cut neurite, but lacked a branching enhancement effect. Other neurotrophic factors, such as nerve growth factor and epidermal growth factor, did not affect the neurite branching or re-elongation. These results suggest that bFGF prevents neuronal death through promoting the branching of the cut neurite.