A 10-amino acid sequence of fibroblast growth factor 2 is sufficient for its mitogenic activity on neural progenitor cells.

During development of the central nervous system, neurons and glia are generated from immature neural progenitor cells (NPCs). Basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) is a mitogen for these cells both in vitro and in vivo. However, it is not known whether other members of the FGF family have similar mitogenic effects on NPCs. We have found that FGF-4, in addition to FGF-2, is a mitogen for NPCs isolated from fetal and adult central nervous systems. Other family members have no proliferative effects on these cells. FGFs transduce signals to the cytoplasm through a family of transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptors (FGFR-1-4) or their isoforms. The high-affinity receptor binding sites are found in two regions of the FGF-2 molecule. We have examined the involvement of these sites in mitogenic signaling. Synthetic peptides corresponding to sequences in FGF-2 receptor binding sites were examined in [3H]thymidine incorporation assays for their agonist or antagonist activity. A 10-aa sequence present in the first receptor binding domain has been found to act as an antagonist, blocking the mitogenic effects of FGF-2. Chemical crosslinking studies using 125I-labeled FGF-2 showed specific reduction in binding of radiolabeled FGF-2 to its receptors present on the membranes of NPCs. The identification of this sequence will assist in the study of pathways involved in signal transduction for mitogenesis in these cells and elucidate the role of FGF-2 and FGF-4 during normal development and in the pathogenesis of disease.