Basic fibroblast growth factor identified in chronically stimulated cardiomyoplasties.

In the presence of myocardial ischemia, chronic electrical stimulation of a latissimus dorsi (LD) cardiomyoplasty enhances extramyocardial collateral blood flow. We postulated that basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) may mediate extramyocardial collateral formation. To test this hypothesis, LDs from goats with cardiomyoplasties were probed for the presence of bFGF by Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry.

A single base mutation in the type II procollagen gene (COL2A1) that converts glycine alpha 1-247 to serine in a family with late-onset spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia.

A search for mutations in the gene for type II procollagen (COL2A1) was carried out in a family with late-onset spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia resulting in short sature, restricted mobility and severe pain in joints, deforming arthritis in the hips, and claudication. Analysis of the HindIII and VNTR polymorphisms at the COL2A1 gene in the family raised the possibility that the gene cosegregated with the disease. Screening for mutations in the COL2A1 gene using PCR-denaturing gradient get electrophoresis suggested a sequence variation in exon 19 of one allele of the COL2A1 gene in the proband.