Fibroblast Growth Factor - Function

Function

FGFs are multifunctional proteins with a wide variety of effects; they are most commonly mitogens but also have regulatory, morphological, and endocrine effects. They have been alternately referred to as "pluripotent" growth factors and as "promiscuous" growth factors due to their multiple actions on multiple cell types. Promiscuous refers to the biochemistry and pharmacology concept of how a variety of molecules can bind to and elicit a response from single receptor. In the case of FGF, four receptor subtypes can be activated by more than twenty different FGF ligands. Thus the functions of FGFs in developmental processes include mesoderm induction, antero-posterior patterning, limb development, neural induction and neural development, and in mature tissues/systems angiogenesis, keratinocyte organization, and wound healing processes.

FGF is critical during normal development of both vertebrates and invertebrates and any irregularities in their function leads to a range of developmental defects.

One important function of FGF1 and FGF2 is the promotion of endothelial cell proliferation and the physical organization of endothelial cells into tube-like structures. They thus promote angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels from the pre-existing vasculature. FGF1 and FGF2 are more potent angiogenic factors than vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) or platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF).

As well as stimulating blood vessel growth, FGFs are important players in wound healing. FGF1 and FGF2 stimulate angiogenesis and the proliferation of fibroblasts that give rise to granulation tissue, which fills up a wound space/cavity early in the wound-healing process. FGF7 and FGF10 (also known as Keratinocyte Growth Factors KGF and KGF2, respectively) stimulate the repair of injured skin and mucosal tissues by stimulating the proliferation, migration and differentiation of epithelial cells, and they have direct chemotactic effects on tissue remodeling.

During development of the central nervous system, FGFs play important roles in neurogenesis, axon growth, and differentiation. FGFs are also important for maintenance of the adult brain. Thus, FGFs are major determinants of neuronal survival both during development and during adulthood. Adult neurogenesis within the hippocampus e.g. depends greatly on FGF-2. In addition, FGF-1 and FGF-2 seem to be involved in the regulation of synaptic plasticity and processes attributed to learning and memory, at least in the hippocampus .

Most FGFs are secreted proteins that bind heparan sulfates and can, therefore, be caught up in the extracellular matrix of tissues that contain heparan sulfate proteoglycans. This allows them to act locally in a paracrine fashion. However, the FGF19 subfamily (including FGF19, FGF21, and FGF23), which binds less tightly to heparan sulfates, can act in an endocrine fashion on far-away tissues, such as intestine, liver, kidney, adipose, and bone. For example, FGF19 is produced by intestinal cells but acts on FGFR4-expressing liver cells to downregulate key genes in the bile acid synthase pathway; FGF23 is produced by bone but acts on FGFR1-expressing kidney cells to regulate the synthesis of vitamin D and in turn affect calcium homeostasis.