Abstract
Epidermal growth factor (EGF), a small polypeptide of 53 amino acid residues and a molecular mass of approximately 6000 daltons, was identified and isolated nearly 25 years ago (Cohen 1962) and is presently the best characterized epithelial cell mitogen. Although a great deal is known about the structure of both EGF and its receptor, including the primary sequences, several important questions remain unanswered. First, what is the physiological function of EGF? Does it play a role in epithelial cell renewal, which in the human body requires a constantly high rate of cell proliferation (approximately 4×106 cell divisions per second)? Second, by what mechanism does EGF induce cell proliferation? Third, does EGF play a role in the induction and/or maintenance of malignant transformation? The discoveries that many types of malignant cells produce EGF-related proteins (transforming growth factor-α; TGF-α) which have the capacity to induce certain transformed phenotypes (see Derynck, this Vol.) and that molecules related to the EGF receptor can function as oncogenes (v-erbB, neu) suggest that parts of the EGF mechanism may have a role in oncogenesis. The importance of understanding this role is underscored by the fact that over 90% of all malignancies arise from epithelial cells (Wright and Alison 1984). This review addresses various aspects of the first two questions. These issues are discussed further in the articles which follow by Derynck, by Schlessinger and by Beug et al.
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Carpenter, G., Goodman, L., Shaver, L. (1986). The Physiology of Epidermal Growth Factor. In: Kahn, P., Graf, T. (eds) Oncogenes and Growth Control. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-73325-3_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-73325-3_9
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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