Basic fibroblast growth factor protects striatal neurons in vitro from NMDA-receptor mediated excitotoxicity

Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) promotes the survival and outgrowth of neurons. In this study the neuroprotective effects of bFGF were examined in 12–18-day-old cultured striatal neurons exposed to glutamic acid, kainic acid (KA), and quinolinic acid (QA), an N-methyl- d-aspartate (NMDA)-receptor agonist. Results showed that preincubation with bFGF (6 pM) from the day of plating significantly increased the survival of striatal neurons treated for 3 h with glutamate (3 mM) or QA (1 mM), but had little effect on KA (1 mM) induced toxicity. Moreover, maximum protection by bFGF against glutamate neurotoxicity was observed in cultures treated as little as 2 h before glutamate exposure. These results show that bFGF markedly protects striatal neurons from NMDA-receptor induced neurotoxicity.