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FGF2
FGF2 Full Name
fibroblast growth factor 2 (basic)
FGF2 Introduction
FGF2 is one of the most prototypical and well studied of all FGFs. FGFs are a family of structurally related signaling polypeptides that, when binding to cell surface high-affinity Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptors (FGFRs) and low-affinity Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans (HSPGs), transduce complex downstream signal transduction pathways that regulate many essential cellular processes including proliferation, differentiation, migration, and survival. FGF2 is a potent mitogen and is expressed in most tissues, and in many cells of mesodermal and neuroectodermal origin including endothelial cells, fibroblasts, neurons and astrocytes. FGF2 signaling classically proceeds through pathways including RAS-MAPK, PI3K-AKT, and PLCγ. These pathways are necessary for essential cell fate decisions, tissue development, and homeostasis, but also serve to make FGF2 functionally pleiotropic in that it can function in many physiological and pathological contexts.
Figure 1. The mechanism of action of FGF2. (Source: Zhang J, et al. 2020)
The biological activities of FGF2 are quite diverse, with broad prospects, especially in the aspects of tissue repair and regeneration. Potent angiogenic activity is one of its most representative biological functions. FGF2 can directly act on vascular endothelial cells, inducing their proliferation, migration and ultimately new capillary network formation. This function is essential for embryonic development, organogenesis and tissue repair after injury. In addition, FGF2 also plays an important role in the maintenance and regeneration of the nervous system. It has been found that it can significantly promote the proliferation and self-renewal of multipotent neural stem cells in the adult mouse brain, which indicates that FGF2 has an important regulatory role in the promotion of adult neurogenesis. This also provides a new idea for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and brain injury repair. Furthermore, the protective effect of FGF2 on the cardiovascular system has also been confirmed. In animal experiments, when FGF2 is injected after acute myocardial infarction, it can significantly reduce the death of cardiomyocytes in the ischemic area, inhibit malignant arrhythmias and protect cardiac function to promote the repair after infarction.
Due to its key roles in cell proliferation and angiogenesis, aberrant expression and dysregulation of FGF2 and its signaling has been found to be associated with the pathogenesis of many major diseases, especially cancer. Abnormal activation of FGF/FGFR signaling is a frequent and early event in many malignancies. FGF2 can be produced by tumor cells themselves in an autocrine manner, or they can maintain their receptor (FGFR) activation by amplification and mutation of FGFR to form a self autocrine or paracrine signaling pathway. This enables tumor cells to acquire the ability to proliferate and migrate uncontrollably and to be more resistant to apoptosis. More importantly, FGF2 is one of the dominant pro-angiogenic factors in tumor microenvironment. Secreted in large quantities by tumor cells, it recruits and activates endothelial cells to form a large tumor vascular network to provide blood supply for the rapid growth of tumors and distant metastasis, and thus drives malignant progression.
Alternate Names for FGF2
FGF2; fibroblast growth factor 2 (basic); FGFB; fibroblast growth factor 2; prostatropin; heparin-binding growth factor 2; basic fibroblast growth factor bFGF; BFGF; FGF-2; HBGF-2;
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