Spatio-temporal distribution of acidic and basic FGF indicates a role for FGF in XXXX lens morphogenesis.

@entity35 @entity664 @entity10494
As part of an investigation into the role of FGF in lens development, we have studied the distribution of both @entity10494 and @entity664 during eye morphogenesis from embryonic days 10 to 18 (E10-E18) in the @entity35 . For @entity10494 , reactivity was found only in ectoderm at E10, prior to contact between the optic vesicle and presumptive lens ectoderm. During lens placode formation (E11) there was a transient, diffuse reactivity for @entity10494 in anterior optic vesicle cells directly apposed to the labelled ectoderm of the lens placode. At E12 the diffuse reactivity of the lens placode had changed to a discrete localisation along the basolateral surfaces of differentiating cells in the lens pit. Similar reactivity was associated with neuroblasts along the inner margin of the optic cup. At the early lens vesicle stage (E13) the baso-lateral @entity10494 -like reactivity associated with elongating lens cells was more intense and extensive. From the late lens vesicle stage (E14) to E18, reactivity in the lens was increasingly restricted to the equatorial regions which incorporate the germinative and transitional zones. From E16 to E18, @entity10494 -like reactivity in the retina was predominantly localised in the peripheral regions corresponding to the developing ciliary body and iris and in the central retina associated with ganglion cell axons. For @entity664 , weak reactivity was detectable as early as E13 in the developing lens capsule and increased in intensity during lens development with the posterior capsule reacting more intensely than the anterior capsule. Retinal @entity664 -like reactivity was first detected at E14, associated with differentiating ganglion cells in the central retina. From E16 to E18 the retinal ganglion cells showed increasing reactivity and the pattern of reactivity followed the centro-peripheral pattern of retinal development. Thus reactivity for @entity10494 is first detected in presumptive lens ectoderm and subsequently in optic vesicle cells which are closely associated with lens ectoderm. This raises the possibility that @entity10494 may be involved in inductive interactions between presumptive lens ectoderm and optic vesicle. Furthermore the localisation patterns established for both @entity10494 and @entity664 during lens and retina morphogenesis suggest an important role for FGF in regulating their morphogenesis and growth.
