Acidic and basic FGF in ocular media and lens: Implications for lens polarity and growth patterns

Abstract

We have shown previously that FGF induces lens epithelial cells in explant culture to proliferate, migrate and differentiate into fibre cells in a progressive concentration-dependent manner. In situ, these processes occur in a distinct anterior-posterior pattern in clearly defined regions of the lens. Thus anterior-posterior differences in the bio-availability of FGF in the lens environment may play a role in determining lens polarity and growth patterns. In this study, using heparin chromatography and western blotting (or ELISA), we established that both acidic and basic FGF are present in the aqueous and vitreous (the ocular media that bathe the anterior and posterior compartments of the l..