Biological Functions of Fibroblast Growth Factors (FGFs)

A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 September 2023) | Viewed by 3665

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Maine Health Institute for Research, Scarborough, ME, USA
Interests: FGF; trauma; repair; secretion; signaling; proliferation; differentiation; adipogenesis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biochemistry, University of New England, Biddeford Campus, Biddeford, ME, USA
Interests: adipogenisis; FGF signaling; metabolic disease; notch signaling; neurogenesis; chemical toxicity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) comprise a family of ubiquitous and evolutionarily conserved cytokines that are ligands for fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFRs). FGFRs are transmembrane tyrosine kinases that regulate a wide range of cell fate decisions, including differentiation, proliferation, and death. The expression and availability of FGFs are highly regulated and sensitive to developmental and environmental cues, including those that induce oxidative stress and hypoxia. Inappropriate FGF activity is an underlying contributor to the etiology of developmental disorders and a host of chronic diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, heart diseases, and neuropsychiatric syndromes. This Special Issue explores the role that FGF ligands play in modulating cellular processes during development, in response to environmental stressors, and in the manifestation and progression of disease. Novel FGF research and review articles providing insight into the regulation of FGF activity and signaling in cell culture, animal models, and under-represented biological systems are welcome. The elucidation of the role of FGFs in maintaining and regulating biological functions will increase the future utility of these potent growth factors in the detection, prevention, and/or treatment of a plethora of diseases and disorders.  

Dr. Igor A. Prudovsky
Dr. Deena J. Small
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cells is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • chronic disease
  • cytokine
  • development
  • FGF
  • FGFR
  • hypoxia
  • oxidative stress
  • signal transduction

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Review

29 pages, 752 KiB  
Review
Role of Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor in Cancer: Biological Activity, Targeted Therapies, and Prognostic Value
by Alessio Ardizzone, Valentina Bova, Giovanna Casili, Alberto Repici, Marika Lanza, Raffaella Giuffrida, Cristina Colarossi, Marzia Mare, Salvatore Cuzzocrea, Emanuela Esposito and Irene Paterniti
Cells 2023, 12(7), 1002; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells12071002 - 24 Mar 2023
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3391
Abstract
Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide; thus, it is necessary to find successful strategies. Several growth factors, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF, FGF2), and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β), are involved in the main [...] Read more.
Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide; thus, it is necessary to find successful strategies. Several growth factors, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF, FGF2), and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β), are involved in the main processes that fuel tumor growth, i.e., cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and metastasis, by activating important signaling pathways, including PLC-γ/PI3/Ca2+ signaling, leading to PKC activation. Here, we focused on bFGF, which, when secreted by tumor cells, mediates several signal transductions and plays an influential role in tumor cells and in the development of chemoresistance. The biological mechanism of bFGF is shown by its interaction with its four receptor subtypes: fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) 1, FGFR2, FGFR3, and FGFR4. The bFGF–FGFR interaction stimulates tumor cell proliferation and invasion, resulting in an upregulation of pro-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic tumor cell proteins. Considering the involvement of the bFGF/FGFR axis in oncogenesis, preclinical and clinical studies have been conducted to develop new therapeutic strategies, alone and/or in combination, aimed at intervening on the bFGF/FGFR axis. Therefore, this review aimed to comprehensively examine the biological mechanisms underlying bFGF in the tumor microenvironment, the different anticancer therapies currently available that target the FGFRs, and the prognostic value of bFGF. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Functions of Fibroblast Growth Factors (FGFs))
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop