Fig. 1.
(A) Representation of the mitogenic activity (on NIH/3T3 cells) of nFGF-1 and nFGF-1 in the presence of various concentrations of heparin and sucrose octasulfate (SOS). The concentration of the protein used in the mitogenic assay was 1 ng/mL. About 3 × 105 cells/well were used in the assay of each of the samples. Appropriate positive and negative controls were used to evaluate the authenticity and sensitivity of the assay. (B) Stimulatory effects of SOS on nFGF-1-induced proliferating cellular nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression level. The PCNA protein levels of rat thoracic aorta smooth muscle cells pretreated with sodium chlorate for 48 h to deprive endogenous heparin were found to increase most significantly by nFGF-1 plus SOS (F + S) as compared with the negative control (0.5% serum). Although nFGF-1 plus heparin (F + H) showed an even higher expression level of PCNA as compared with the positive control (15% serum), such increment was much less than that of F + S. Treatment with nFGF-1 alone showed a slight enhancing effect on PCNA but not to a significant level.