Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor On Rabbit Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cell Apoptosis

Abstract Objective To observe the effect of exogenous basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) on apoptosis of cultured rabbit retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells exposed to visible light.Methods cultured rabbit RPE cells was exposed to (4000±500) lx cold white light in vitro.Exogenous bFGF Was utilized during culture.Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate/propidium iodium (V-FITC/PI) labeling,flow cytometry, cell cycle were used to estimate the apoptosis.Results No protective effect of bFGF was observed under the concentration 1 ng/ml.A significant inhibition of apoptosis was found in 10 ng/ml and 20 ng/ml groups(P<0.05).After illumination,expression of bcl-2mRNA descended.The upregulation of bcl-2mRNA was observed in bFGF pro-treated groups(P<0.05),and the increase was concentration dependent. Compared to light exposure group,the multiplication activity of cell significantly increased in bFGF (10 ng/ml,20 ng/ml) pro-treated groups.Conclusions Rabbit RPE cells exposed to visible light were rescued by application of exogenous bFGF.The probable protective mechanism of bFGF is directly binding to upregulate bcl-2 and to boost multiplication activity of cell.