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Origins of Growth Factors: NGF and EGF
Author(s) -
COHEN STANLEY
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1196/annals.1315.017
Subject(s) - nerve growth factor , epidermal growth factor , biology , in vivo , tyrosine kinase , salivary gland , stimulation , endocrinology , eyelid , transplantation , embryo , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , cancer research , receptor , signal transduction , surgery
A bstract : This presentation describes the events that led to the sequential discoveries of nerve growth factor (NGF) and epidermal growth factor (EGF). Each was isolated during attempts to understand the biochemical basis for unexpected biological observations. The in vivo stimulation of the growth of specific nerve fibers following the transplantation of a mouse sarcoma into a chick embryo eventually resulted in the finding of NGF, not only in the transplanted tumor but also in snake venom and in the mouse salivary gland. Unexpectedly, treatment of newborn animals with extracts of the mouse salivary gland resulted not only in enhancement of nerve growth but also in precocious eyelid opening and tooth eruption. The latter observations led to the isolation of both EGF and its tyrosine kinase‐active receptor.