Epidermal Growth Factor or EGF is a 133953 Da protein with 53 amino acid residues and three intramolecular disulfide bonds. It plays an important role in the regulation of cell growth and proliferation.
EGF acts by binding with high affinity to its specific receptor on the cell surface thereby stimulating the intrinsic protein-tyrosine kinase activity of the receptor. The tyrosine kinase activity of the receptor in turn initiates a signal transduction cascade which ultimately leads to DNA synthesis and cell proliferation.
A variety of biochemical changes occurs within the cell in response to the signal cascade; these changes include a rise in intracellular calcium levels, increased glycolysis and protein synthesis, and increases in the expression of certain genes including the gene for the EGF receptor, all in preparation for mitosis.
Because cancer features rogue cell growth, this is a protein is subject of a lot of experiments which attempt to link faults in this protein to the disease.
See also
References
- Carpenter G, Cohen S. Epidermal growth factor. J Biol Chem 1990;265:7709. PMID 2186024.
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