Faham S, Linhardt R J, Rees D C
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles 90095-1570, USA.
Curr Opin Struct Biol. 1998 Oct;8(5):578-86. doi: 10.1016/s0959-440x(98)80147-4.
Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) are members of a protein family with a broad range of biological activities. The best characterized FGFs interact with two distinct extracellular receptors--a transmembrane tyrosine kinase FGF receptor (FGFR) and a heparan f1p4ate-related proteoglycan of the extracellular matrix. These components form a FGF-FGFR-proteoglycan complex that activates the FGF-mediated signal transduction process through FGFR dimerization. Recent crystal structure determinations of FGF-heparin complexes have provided insights into both the interactions between these components and the role of heparin-like proteoglycans in FGF function. Future advances in this field will benefit enormously from an ability to specifically prepare homogeneous heparin-based oligosaccharides of defined sequence for use in biochemical and structural studies of FGF and many other systems.
成纤维细胞生长因子（FGFs）是一个具有广泛生物活性的蛋白质家族成员。特征最明确的FGFs与两种不同的细胞外受体相互作用——一种跨膜酪氨酸激酶FGF受体（FGFR）和细胞外基质中与硫酸乙酰肝素相关的蛋白聚糖。这些成分形成一个FGF-FGFR-蛋白聚糖复合物，通过FGFR二聚化激活FGF介导的信号转导过程。最近FGF-肝素复合物的晶体结构测定，为这些成分之间的相互作用以及类肝素蛋白聚糖在FGF功能中的作用提供了深入了解。该领域未来的进展将极大地受益于能够特异性制备具有确定序列的均一肝素基寡糖，用于FGF及许多其他系统的生化和结构研究。
