title: Basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2): the high molecular weight forms come of age.
abstract: After over thirty years from its discovery, research on basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) keeps revealing new aspects of the complexity of its gene expression as it evolved in the eukaryotic organisms. The discovery of multiple forms of FGF-2 generated by alternative translation from AUG and non-canonical CUG codons on the same mRNA transcript has led to the characterization of a low molecular weight (LMW) FGF-2 form and various high molecular weight (HMW) forms (four in humans). In this review, we discuss the biochemical features and biological activities of the different FGF-2 forms. In particular, we focus on the properties that are unique to the HMW forms and its biological functions.
authors.affiliation: The Seymour Cohn Cardiovascular Research Laboratory, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Pey-Jen
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.forename: Aubrey C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Galloway
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mignatti
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pintucci
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003062:Codon; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply / Q000378:metabolism*; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D010442:Peptide Chain Initiation, Translational; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D003062:Codon; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2