Hu M C, Wang Y P, Qiu W R
Department of Cell Biology and Functional Genomics, Amgen Inc., Thousand Oaks, California 91320, USA.
Oncogene. 1999 Apr 22;18(16):2635-42. doi: 10.1038/sj.onc.1202616.
The fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) play crucial roles in controlling embryonic development, cell growth, morphogenesis, and tissue repair in animals. Furthermore, FGFs may have a role in angiogenesis and may be involved in tumor invasion and metastasis. Here, we present the cloning and sequence of human FGF-18, a novel member of the FGF family. Sequence comparison indicates that FGF-18 is conserved with the other FGFs and most homologous to FGF-8 among the FGF family members. We showed that human FGF-18 was expressed primarily in the heart, skeletal muscle, and pancreas, and at lower levels in the other tissues. FGF-18 was also expressed at low levels in certain cancer cell lines. FGF-18 contains a typical signal peptide and was secreted when it was transfected into mammalian cells. Recombinant FGF-18 protein stimulated proliferation in the fibroblast cell line NIH3T3 in a dose-dependent manner, suggesting that FGF-18 is a functional growth factor. Finally, the FGF-18 gene was evolutionarily conserved, and localized to human chromosome 14p11.
成纤维细胞生长因子（FGFs）在动物胚胎发育、细胞生长、形态发生和组织修复的调控中发挥着关键作用。此外，FGFs可能在血管生成中起作用，并且可能参与肿瘤侵袭和转移。在此，我们展示了人类FGF - 18（FGF家族的一个新成员）的克隆及序列。序列比较表明，FGF - 18与其他FGFs保守，且在FGF家族成员中与FGF - 8最为同源。我们发现人类FGF - 18主要在心脏、骨骼肌和胰腺中表达，在其他组织中表达水平较低。FGF - 18在某些癌细胞系中也低水平表达。FGF - 18含有典型的信号肽，转染到哺乳动物细胞时可分泌。重组FGF - 18蛋白以剂量依赖方式刺激成纤维细胞系NIH3T3的增殖，表明FGF - 18是一种功能性生长因子。最后，FGF - 18基因在进化上保守，定位于人类染色体14p11。
