School of Chinese Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China.
Shenzhen Institute of Research and Innovation, The University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China.
Int J Biol Sci. 2022 Oct 3;18(15):5928-5942. doi: 10.7150/ijbs.76924. eCollection 2022.
Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 21 is one of the FGF members with special endocrine properties. In the last twenty years, it has attracted intense research and development for its physiological functions that respond to dietary manipulation, pharmacological benefits of improving the macronutrient metabolism, and clinical values as a biomarker of various human diseases. Generally, FGF21 can be produced by major metabolic organs, but only the subgroup from the liver shows canonical endocrine properties, which emphasizes the special value of delineating the unique secretory and functional characteristics of hepatic FGF21. There has been a growth in literature to address the extra-hepatic activities of FGF21, and many striking findings have therefore been published. Yet, they are fragmented and scattered, and controversies are raised from divergent findings. For this reason, there is a need for a systematic and critical evaluation of current research in this aspect. In this review, we focus on the current knowledge about the molecular biology of endocrine FGF21, especially present details on the regulation of circulating levels of FGF21. We also emphasize its emerging roles in inter-organ crosstalk and cancer development.
成纤维细胞生长因子 21（FGF21）是具有特殊内分泌特性的 FGF 成员之一。在过去的二十年中，它因其对饮食操纵的生理功能、改善宏量营养素代谢的药理学益处以及作为各种人类疾病生物标志物的临床价值而引起了强烈的研究和开发兴趣。一般来说，FGF21 可以由主要代谢器官产生，但只有来自肝脏的亚组表现出典型的内分泌特性，这强调了描绘肝 FGF21 的独特分泌和功能特性的特殊价值。关于 FGF21 的非肝脏活性的文献不断增加，因此发表了许多引人注目的发现。然而，这些发现是零散的，存在争议，这是因为不同的发现存在分歧。出于这个原因，需要对这方面的当前研究进行系统和批判性评估。在这篇综述中，我们重点介绍内分泌 FGF21 的分子生物学的最新知识，特别是关于循环 FGF21 水平调节的最新细节。我们还强调了它在器官间串扰和癌症发展中的新兴作用。
