Abstract: Objective To study the effect of aFGF with the nuclear translocation sequenceknocked out on the mitogenic activity to NIH3T3 cells. Methods There were four groups in the experiment: waFGF, raFGF, waFGF+HS and raFGF+HS. The cell proliferation was measured with MTT and the cell cycle progression and apoptosis were measured with FCM. The expressions of bcl-2, p53 and c-fos genes were determined with RT PCR. Results As the concentrations of raFGF or waFGF were at 10-40μg•L^-1, the effect of raFGF on the cell proliferation was significantly lower than that of waFGF (P<0.001); when HS was added, the cell proliferations in waFGF+HS and raFGF+HS groups were significantly higher than those in waFGF and raFGF groups, respectively (P<0.001). The apoptotic percentages of NIH3T3 cells treated with aFGF and raFGF all decreased, but the effect of raFGF was weaker than that of waFGF. The expressions of c-fos gene in waFGF and waFGF+HS groups were higher than those in raFGF and raFGF+HS. The expressions of p53 gene in waFGF and raFGF groups increased. The expression of bcl-2 in waFGF+HS group was highest, next were those in waFGF and raFGF groups. Conclusion The mitogenic activity of raFGF is weaker than that of waFGF. They all can stimulate DNA synthesis and cell proliferation, and inhibit the NIH3T3 cell apoptosis. Heparin can enhance the aFGF activity, and act as a asistant factor to imitate the the internal environment in aFGF in vitro.

Key words: heparin, cell proliferation, apoptosis, gene expression