title: The PDGF family: four gene products form five dimeric isoforms.
abstract: Platelet-derived growth factors (PDGFs) were discovered more than two decades ago. Today the PDGF family of growth factors consists of five different disulphide-linked dimers built up of four different polypeptide chains encoded by four different genes. These isoforms, PDGF-AA, PDGF-AB, PDGF-BB, PDGF-CC and PDGF-DD, act via two receptor tyrosine kinases, PDGF receptors alpha and beta. The classic PDGFs, PDGF-A and PDGF-B, undergo intracellular activation during transport in the exocytic pathway for subsequent secretion, while the novel PDGFs, PDGF-C and PDGF-D, are secreted as latent factors that require activation by extracellular proteases. The classical PDGF polypeptide chains, PDGF-A and PDGF-B, are well studied and they regulate several physiological and pathophysiological processes, mainly using cells of mesenchymal or neuroectodermal origin as their targets. The discovery of two additional ligands for the two PDGF receptors suggests that PDGF-mediated cellular signaling is more complex than previously thought.
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Stockholm Branch, Box 240, S-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fredriksson
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ulf
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Eriksson
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport; D003062:Codon; D019281:Dimerization; D004220:Disulfides; D006801:Humans; D008024:Ligands; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry; D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology*; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D020796:Receptor, Platelet-Derived Growth Factor alpha / Q000737:chemistry; D020797:Receptor, Platelet-Derived Growth Factor beta / Q000737:chemistry; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D003062:Codon; D004220:Disulfides; D008024:Ligands; D010455:Peptides; D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D020796:Receptor, Platelet-Derived Growth Factor alpha; D020797:Receptor, Platelet-Derived Growth Factor beta