Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of GraphSearch.
Concept
Epidermal growth factor
Summary
Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is a protein that stimulates cell growth and differentiation by binding to its receptor, EGFR. Human EGF is 6-kDa and has 53 amino acid residues and three intramolecular disulfide bonds.
EGF was originally described as a secreted peptide found in the submaxillary glands of mice and in human urine. EGF has since been found in many human tissues, including platelets, submandibular gland (submaxillary gland), and parotid gland. Initially, human EGF was known as urogastrone.
In humans, EGF has 53 amino acids (sequence NSDSECPLSHDGYCLHDGVCMYIEALDKYACNCVVGYIGERCQYRDLKWWELR), with a molecular mass of around 6 kDa. It contains three disulfide bridges (Cys6-Cys20, Cys14-Cys31, Cys33-Cys42).
EGF, via binding to its cognate receptor, results in cellular proliferation, differentiation, and survival.
Salivary EGF, which seems to be regulated by dietary inorganic iodine, also plays an important physiological role in the maintenance of oro-esophageal and gastric tissue integrity. The biological effects of salivary EGF include healing of oral and gastroesophageal ulcers, inhibition of gastric acid secretion, stimulation of DNA synthesis as well as mucosal protection from intraluminal injurious factors such as gastric acid, bile acids, pepsin, and trypsin and to physical, chemical and bacterial agents.
The Epidermal growth factor can be found in platelets, urine, saliva, milk, tears, and blood plasma. It can also be found in the submandibular glands, and the parotid gland. The production of EGF has been found to be stimulated by testosterone.
Polypeptide growth factors include:
EGF acts by binding with high affinity to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) on the cell surface. This stimulates ligand-induced dimerization, activating the intrinsic protein-tyrosine kinase activity of the receptor (see the second diagram).
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.