| First Author | Hu MC | Year | 1998 |
| Journal | Mol Cell Biol | Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 10 | Pages | 6063-74 |
| PubMed ID | 9742123 | Mgi Jnum | J:50034 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:1289768 | Doi | 10.1128/mcb.18.10.6063 |
| Citation | Hu MC, et al. (1998) FGF-18, a novel member of the fibroblast growth factor family, stimulates hepatic and intestinal proliferation. Mol Cell Biol 18(10):6063-74 |
| abstractText | The fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) play key roles in controlling tissue growth, morphogenesis, and repair in animals. We have cloned a novel member of the FGF family, designated FGF-18, that is expressed primarily in the lungs and kidneys and at lower levels in the heart, testes, spleen, skeletal muscle, and brain. Sequence comparison indicates that FGF-18 is highly conserved between humans and mice and is most homologous to FGF-8 among the FGF family members. FGF-18 has a typical signal sequence and was glycosylated and secreted when it was transfected into 293-EBNA cells. Recombinant murine FGF-18 protein (rMuFGF-18) stimulated proliferation in the fibroblast cell line NIH 3T3 in vitro in a heparan sulfate-dependent manner. To examine its biological activity in vivo, rMuFGF-18 was injected into normal mice and ectopically overexpressed in transgenic mice by using a liver- specific promoter. Injection of rMuFGF-18 induced proliferation in a wide variety of tissues, including tissues of both epithelial and mesenchymal origin. The two tissues which appeared to be the primary targets of FGF-18 were the liver and small intestine, both of which exhibited histologic evidence of proliferation and showed significant gains in organ weight following 7 (sometimes 3) days of FGF-18 treatment. Transgenic mice that overexpressed FGF-18 in the liver also exhibited an increase in liver weight and hepatocellular proliferation. These results suggest that FGF-18 is a pleiotropic growth factor that stimulates proliferation in a number of tissues, most notably the liver and small intestine. |
