Fibroblast growth factor 1, (FGF-1) also known as acidic fibroblast growth factor (aFGF), is a

growth factor A growth factor is a naturally occurring substance capable of stimulating cell proliferation, wound healing, and occasionally cellular differentiation. Usually it is a secreted protein or a steroid hormone. Growth factors are important for regul ...

and

signaling protein In biology, cell signaling (cell signalling in British English) or cell communication is the ability of a cell to receive, process, and transmit signals with its environment and with itself. Cell signaling is a fundamental property of all cellul ...

encoded by the ''FGF1''

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "... Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a b ...

. It is synthesized as a 155 amino acid polypeptide, whose mature form is a non-

glycosylated Glycosylation is the reaction in which a carbohydrate (or ' glycan'), i.e. a glycosyl donor, is attached to a hydroxyl or other functional group of another molecule (a glycosyl acceptor) in order to form a glycoconjugate. In biology (but not ...

17-18 kDa protein.

Fibroblast growth factor Fibroblast growth factors (FGF) are a family of cell signalling proteins produced by macrophages; they are involved in a wide variety of processes, most notably as crucial elements for normal development in animal cells. Any irregularities in their ...

protein was first purified in 1975, but soon afterwards others using different conditions isolated acidic FGF, Heparin-binding growth factor-1, and Endothelial cell growth factor-1. Gene sequencing revealed that this group was actually the same growth factor and that FGF1 was a member of a family of FGF proteins. FGF-1 has no definitive signal sequence and thus is not secreted through classical pathways, but it does appear to form a disulfide linked dimer inside cells that associate with a complex of proteins at the cell membrane (including S100A13 and Syt1) which then help flip it through the membrane to the exterior of the cell. Once in the reducing conditions of the surrounding tissue, the dimer dissociates into

monomer In chemistry, a monomer ( ; '' mono-'', "one" + ''-mer'', "part") is a molecule that can react together with other monomer molecules to form a larger polymer chain or three-dimensional network in a process called polymerization. Classification ...

ic FGF1 that can enter systemic circulation or be sequestered in tissues binding to

heparan sulfate proteoglycan Heparan sulfate (HS) is a linear polysaccharide found in all animal tissues. It occurs as a proteoglycan (HSPG, i.e. Heparan Sulfate ProteoGlycan) in which two or three HS chains are attached in close proximity to cell surface or extracellular ...

s of the

extracellular matrix In biology, the extracellular matrix (ECM), also called intercellular matrix, is a three-dimensional network consisting of extracellular macromolecules and minerals, such as collagen, enzymes, glycoproteins and hydroxyapatite that provide s ...

. FGF1 can then bind to and exert its effects via specific fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) proteins which themselves constitute a family of closely related molecules. In addition to its extracellular activity, FGF1 can also function intracellularly. The protein has a nuclear localization sequence (NLS) but the route that FGF1 takes to get to the nucleus is unclear and it appears that some sort of cell surface receptor binding is necessary, followed by its internalization and translocation to the nucleus whereupon it can interact with nuclear isoforms of FGFRs. This is different from

FGF2 Fibroblast growth factor 2, also known as basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and FGF-β, is a growth factor and signaling protein encoded by the ''FGF2'' gene. It binds to and exerts effects via specific fibroblast growth factor receptor ''(FG ...

which also can activate nuclear FGFRs but has splicing variants of the protein that never leave the cell and go directly to the nucleus.

Function

FGF family members possess broad

mitogenic A mitogen is a small bioactive protein or peptide that induces a cell to begin cell division, or enhances the rate of division (mitosis). Mitogenesis is the induction (triggering) of mitosis, typically via a mitogen. The mechanism of action of a ...

and cell survival activities, and are involved in a variety of biological processes, including embryonic development, cell growth,

morphogenesis Morphogenesis (from the Greek ''morphê'' shape and ''genesis'' creation, literally "the generation of form") is the biological process that causes a cell, tissue or organism to develop its shape. It is one of three fundamental aspects of deve ...

tissue repair Tissue engineering is a biomedical engineering discipline that uses a combination of cells, engineering, materials methods, and suitable biochemical and physicochemical factors to restore, maintain, improve, or replace different types of biologi ...

, tumor growth and invasion. This protein functions as a modifier of endothelial cell migration and proliferation, as well as an angiogenic factor. It acts as a mitogen for a variety of mesoderm- and neuroectoderm-derived cells in vitro, thus is thought to be involved in

organogenesis Organogenesis is the phase of embryonic development that starts at the end of gastrulation and continues until birth. During organogenesis, the three germ layers formed from gastrulation (the ectoderm, endoderm, and mesoderm) form the internal org ...

. Three alternatively spliced variants encoding different isoforms have been described. FGF1 is multifunctional with many reported effects. For one example, in mice with diet-induced diabetes that is an experimental equivalent of type 2 diabetes in humans, a single injection of the FGF1 protein is enough to restore blood sugar levels to a healthy range for > 2 days.*

Interactions

FGF1 has been shown to interact with: * CSNK2A2 *

CSNK2B Casein kinase II subunit beta is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''CSNK2B'' gene. This gene encodes the beta subunit of casein kinase II, a ubiquitous protein kinase which regulates metabolic pathways, signal transduction, transcriptio ...

* CSNK2A1 *

FIBP Acidic fibroblast growth factor intracellular-binding protein is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''FIBP'' gene. Function Acidic fibroblast growth factor is mitogenic for a variety of different cell types and acts by stimulating mitog ...

FGFR1 Fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1), also known as basic fibroblast growth factor receptor 1, fms-related tyrosine kinase-2 / Pfeiffer syndrome, and CD331, is a receptor tyrosine kinase whose ligands are specific members of the fibroblast ...

FGFR2 Fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) also known as CD332 (cluster of differentiation 332) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''FGFR2'' gene residing on chromosome 10. FGFR2 is a receptor for fibroblast growth factor. The protein ...

FGFR3 Fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''FGFR3'' gene. FGFR3 has also been designated as CD333 (cluster of differentiation 333). The gene, which is located on chromosome 4, location q16.3, is expressed in ...

FGFR4 Fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''FGFR4'' gene. FGFR4 has also been designated as CD334 (cluster of differentiation 334). The protein encoded by this gene is a member of the fibroblast growth fact ...

* HSPA9 and * S100A13 * Synaptotagmin 1 (SYT1)

Function

Interactions

See also

References

Further reading