Bedrick A D, Ladda R L
Teratology. 1978 Feb;17(1):13-8. doi: 10.1002/tera.1420170106.
Epidermal growth factor (EGF) injected into pregnant mice increased the frequency of cleft palate (CP) in cortisone-treated mouse fetuses. EGF alone produced proliferation and thickening of the epithelium of the palatal processes, but CP was not significantly increased over saline injected controls. Cortisone alone produced thinning of the palatal epithelium and caused CP in 61 percent of formed fetuses. The combination of EGF and cortisone treatment induced CP in 100 percent of formed fetuses; epithelial thickening still occurred with the combination treatment. Thus, EGF may be teratogenic under special circumstances. These observations suggest that the relative thickness of the palatal shelf epithelium may not be a critical factor in the fusion of the palatal shelves.
向怀孕小鼠注射表皮生长因子（EGF）会增加经可的松处理的小鼠胎儿腭裂（CP）的发生率。单独使用EGF会使腭突上皮细胞增殖并增厚，但与注射生理盐水的对照组相比，CP发生率并未显著增加。单独使用可的松会使腭上皮变薄，并导致61%的成形胎儿出现CP。EGF与可的松联合处理会使100%的成形胎儿出现CP；联合处理时上皮仍会增厚。因此，EGF在特殊情况下可能具有致畸性。这些观察结果表明，腭突上皮的相对厚度可能不是腭突融合的关键因素。
