title: IGFBP-2 - taking the lead in growth, metabolism and cancer.
abstract: The activity of the Insulin-like Growth Factors (IGFs) ligands elicited via their receptors and transduced by various intracellular signal pathways is modulated by the IGF Binding Proteins (IGFBPs). Among all the IGFBPs, IGFBP-2 has been implicated in the regulation of IGF activity in most tissue and organs. Besides binding to IGFs in the circulation these IGF-regulatory activities of IGFBP-2 involve interactions with components of the extracellular matrix, cell surface proteoglycans and integrin receptors. In addition to these local peri-cellular activities, IGFBP-2 exerts other key functions within the nucleus, where IGFBP-2 directly or indirectly promotes transcriptional activation of specific genes. All of these IGFBP-2 activities, intrinsic or dependent on IGFs, contribute to its functional roles in growth/development, metabolism and malignancy as evidenced by studies in IGFBP-2 animal models and also by many in vitro studies. Finally, preclinical studies have demonstrated that IGFBP-2 administration can be beneficial in improving metabolic responses (inhibition of adipogenesis and enhanced insulin sensitivity), while blockade of IGFBP-2 appears to be an effective approach to inhibiting tumour growth and metastasis.
authors.affiliation: Deparment of Cell Biology, Hormone Research, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Steven W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Yau
authors.forename: Walid J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Azar
authors.forename: Matthew A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sabin
authors.forename: George A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Werther
authors.forename: Vincenzo C
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Russo