Fig. 6. Transient upregulation of GLAST expression following bFGF treatment. Time course of changes in glutamate uptake (A) and GLAST mRNA (B) was assessed in cultured astrocytes treated with 3 ng/ml bFGF. (A) The level of glutamate uptake is expressed relative to the uptake rate of untreated astrocytes (pre). The bFGF effect reached a peak after 36 hours, and rapidly returned to baseline by 48 hours. (*p<0.05; **p<0.01 vs pre, Tukey’s test following ANOVA). Data represent means±s.e.m. of 4 cultures. (B) A representative northern blot of GLAST mRNA. Numbers above the lanes indicate the duration of bFGF treatment. An increase in the mRNA levels was observed at 18 to 36 hours.