Epidermal growth factor receptors.

EGF-Rs are cell membrane glycoproteins of wide distribution. They have not yet been fully characterized or purified but are probably molecules of 170-190,000 mol. wt. in most cells. The growth factor EGF binds and will saturate cell surface receptors with a KA of about 5 X 10(9) M-1 although a receptor class with an affinity in excess of 10(10) M-1 has been detected in some cells. The number of receptors on a cell does not determine the level of its response. Some cell types have receptors which bind EGF, but with no mitogenic response. The ways in which receptor affinity and/or number is modulated are described. This and other evidence is reviewed in a search for a suitable model of a mechanism of action on the cell, which best fits the current data. There is ample evidence that EGF binds to the receptor; that ligand-receptor complexes cluster or aggregate; and then are internalized and degraded, but evidence for a direct connection between internalization and the subsequent mitogenic response is lacking. Good correlations between internalization and mitogenic responses have been observed and developed into a theory of endocytic activation, but there is a body of evidence which cannot be accommodated by this theory. Instead, an alternative model is suggested.