title: Contributions of the epidermal growth factor receptor to keratinocyte motility.
abstract: The epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor plays a central role in numerous aspects of keratinocyte biology. In normal epidermis, the EGF receptor is important for autocrine growth of this renewing tissue, suppression of terminal differentiation, promotion of cell survival, and regulation of cell migration during epidermal morphogenesis and wound healing. In wounded skin, the EGF receptor is transiently up-regulated and is an important contributor to the proliferative and migratory aspects of wound reepithelialization. In keratinocytic carcinomas, aberrant expression or activation of the EGF receptor is common and has been proposed to play a role in tumor progression. Many cellular processes such as altered cell adhesion, expression of matrix degrading proteinases, and cell migration are common to keratinocytes during wound healing and in metastatic tumors. The EGF receptor is able to regulate each of these cellular functions and we propose that transient and dynamic elevation of EGF receptor during wound healing, or constitutive overexpression in tumors, provides an important contribution to the migratory and invasive potential of keratinocytes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque 87131, USA. lghudson@unm.edu
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Hudson
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: McCawley
mesh_terms: D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology; D004817:Epidermis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000254:growth & development; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000502:physiology*; D005956:Glucose-6-Phosphate Isomerase / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000503:physiopathology; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D016211:Transforming Growth Factor alpha / Q000502:physiology; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D016211:Transforming Growth Factor alpha; D066246:ErbB Receptors; D005956:Glucose-6-Phosphate Isomerase