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Epidermal growth factor (EGF), originally called "gastric inhibitor", was discovered by scientists purifying NGF from the submandibular gland of mice, a peptide that promotes early eye-opening, tooth growth, and heat stabilization in newborn mice. This peptide inhibited gastric acid secretion and was later found to promote epidermal growth directly. There are currently six EGF family members, in addition to EGF, there are transforming growth factor α (TGF-α), bidirectional regulator protein (AR), β-cytokinin (BTC), heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF), and epidermal regulator (EPR). The members of the EGF family are important in the regulation of cell growth and proliferation and play an important role in many developmental processes, including the promotion of mesenchymal cell growth. including the promotion of mitosis and differentiation of mesenchymal and epithelial cells.
Figure 1. Diagram outlining the members of the EGF family of ligands and their respective receptors. (Abud H E, et al., 2021)
EGF can accelerate the generation of new cells, increase the number of new cells, promote the metabolism of skin cells, the dead skin layer to gradually fall off, and maintain smooth skin texture, skin elasticity enhancement, skin wrinkles reduction, and prevention of skin aging effect. In addition, the human epidermal growth factor (hEGF) acts widely on a variety of human tissues to promote cell growth. Endothelial cells and fibroblasts stimulate chemotaxis, promoting migration to damaged areas and inducing fibroblasts to generate collagen, thereby playing a crucial role in trauma repair.
Evidence suggests that EGF family ligands and receptors are important regulators of the development and maintenance of various tissues, including the nervous system. Knockout, transgenic, or other in vitro and in vivo studies have shown that EGF produced by neurons and glial cells plays an important role in regulating the proliferation, migration, differentiation, and survival of neural or glial precursor cells or stem cells, maintenance of tissue homeostasis, and regulation of central neuroglial hyperplasia and peripheral nerve injury response, which is essential for the development and maintenance of the nervous system.
Studies have shown that polymorphisms in the EGF promoter region are important in the development and metastasis of cancer. Mutations in the EGF promoter locus have been found to reduce EGF expression in peripheral blood cells, resulting in an increased risk of malignant melanoma. EGFR plays important roles in cell physiology, such as proliferation and anti-apoptosis. However, its overexpression plays an important role in the evolution of malignant tumors, such as nasopharyngeal, head and neck, cervical, and pancreatic cancers.
An organoid is defined as a 3D structure grown from clusters of organ-specific cells grown from pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), adult stem cells, and somatic cells derived from human tissues. These organoids can be stored in biobanks for basic research such as disease modeling, developmental biology, and regenerative medicine. As one of the culture factors, EGF is suitable for most organoid culture experiments to further induce specific differentiation and proliferation changes in stem cells.
Creative BioMart, as a professional biotechnology company, is committed to providing a series of high-quality GMP-grade EGF family cytokines and related customized services to advance the research of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. If you are interested in our products or services, please contact us.
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