title: Functional Role of Milk Fat Globule-Epidermal Growth Factor VIII in Macrophage-Mediated Inflammatory Responses and Inflammatory/Autoimmune Diseases.
abstract: Inflammation involves a series of complex biological processes mediated by innate immunity for host defense against pathogen infection. Chronic inflammation is considered to be one of the major causes of serious diseases, including a number of autoimmune/inflammatory diseases, cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and neurological diseases. Milk fat globule-epidermal growth factor 8 (MFG-E8) is a secreted protein found in vertebrates and was initially discovered as a critical component of the milk fat globule. Previously, a number of studies have reported that MFG-E8 contributes to various biological functions including the phagocytic removal of damaged and apoptotic cells from tissues, the induction of VEGF-mediated neovascularization, the maintenance of intestinal epithelial homeostasis, and the promotion of mucosal healing. Recently, emerging studies have reported that MFG-E8 plays a role in inflammatory responses and inflammatory/autoimmune diseases. This review describes the characteristics of MFG-E8-mediated signaling pathways, summarizes recent findings supporting the roles of MFG-E8 in inflammatory responses and inflammatory/autoimmune diseases, and discusses MFG-E8 targeting as a potential therapeutic strategy for the development of anti-inflammatory/autoimmune disease drugs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Cheongju University, Cheongju 28503, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Su
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7166-3659
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Yi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D006017:Glycolipids / Q000378:metabolism*; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D066292:Lipid Droplets; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006017:Glycolipids; D006023:Glycoproteins; C110367:milk fat globule; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor