For the past year we continued to focus on the cell physiology of basic and acidic fibroblast growth factors, using both in vitro and in vivo models. The FGFs and their receptors were also found to be expressed in embryonic tissues but not in the adult, where the peptides are stored. In vascular injury, as in embryonic vessels and cultured vascular cells, FGFs and their receptors were re-expressed. Smooth muscle cell proliferation was inhibited by exposure of the cells to bFGF conjugated to the ribosome inhibitor saporin.
