Basic fibroblast growth factor

Basic fibroblast growth factor, also known as bFGF, FGF2 or FGF-β, is a member of the fibroblast growth factor family.

Function

In normal tissue, basic fibroblast growth factor is present in basement membranes and in the subendothelial extracellular matrix of blood vessels. It stays membrane-bound as long as there is no signal peptide.

It has been hypothesized that, during both wound healing of normal tissues and tumor development, the action of heparan sulfate-degrading enzymes activates bFGF, thus mediating the formation of new blood vessels, a process known as angiogenesis.

In addition, it is synthesized and secreted by human adipocytes and the concentration of bFGF correlates with the BMI in blood samples. In this study, bFGF was also shown to act on preosteoblasts – in the form of an increased proliferation – after binding to fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 and activating phosphoinositide 3-kinase.

bFGF has been shown in preliminary animal studies to protect the heart from injury associated with a heart attack, reducing tissue death and promoting improved function after reperfusion.

Recent evidence has shown that low levels of FGF2 play a key role in the incidence of excessive anxiety.

Additionally, bFGF is a critical component of human embryonic stem cell culture medium; the growth factor is necessary for the cells to remain in an undifferentiated state, although the mechanisms by which it does this are poorly defined. It has been demonstrated to induce gremlin expression which in turn is known to inhibit the induction of differentiation by bone morphogenetic proteins. It is necessary in mouse-feeder cell dependent culture systems, as well as in feeder and serum-free culture systems. FGF2, in conjunction with BMP4, promote differentiation of stem cells to mesodermal lineages. After differentiation, BMP4 and FGF2 treated cells generally produces higher amounts of osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation than untreated stem cells.

Interactions

Basic fibroblast growth factor has been shown to interact with casein kinase 2, alpha 1, RPL6 and ribosomal protein S19.

See also

• Angiogenesis
• Anxiety disorders
• Cytokine
• Fibroblast growth factor
• Growth factor
• Proteases in angiogenesis
• Receptor (biochemistry)
• Signal transduction

External links

• Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor at the US National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)