FGF7

What is FGF7 protein?

FGF7 (fibroblast growth factor 7) gene is a protein coding gene which situated on the long arm of chromosome 15 at locus 15q21. The protein encoded by this gene is a member of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family. FGF family members possess broad mitogenic and cell survival activities. This protein is a potent epithelial cell-specific growth factor, whose mitogenic activity is predominantly exhibited in keratinocytes but not in fibroblasts and endothelial cells. Studies of mouse and rat homologs of this gene implicated roles in morphogenesis of epithelium, reepithelialization of wounds, hair development and early lung organogenesis. The FGF7 protein is consisted of 194 amino acids and its molecular mass is approximately 22.5 kDa.

What is the function of FGF7 protein?

FGF7 protein is involved in a variety of biological processes, including embryonic development, cell growth, morphogenesis, tissue repair, tumor growth and invasion. It is a growth factor active on keratinocytes. FGF7 is required for normal branching morphogenesis and is a possible major paracrine effector of normal epithelial cell proliferation.

Fig1. Schematic drawing of the proposed role of the cholesteatoma-associated fibroblasts (CHO-AFs) in the deregulation of epidermal proliferation and differentiation through a paracrine loop involving secretion of KGF. (Salvatore Raffa, 2012)

FGF7 Related Signaling Pathway

FGF7 is a fibroblast growth factor that is involved in a variety of biological processes, including cell proliferation, differentiation, and embryonic development. FGF7 mainly interacts with its receptor gene FGFR2IIIb to activate several signaling pathways, including the following major signaling pathways: MAPK/ERK signaling pathway, PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, JAK-STAT signaling pathway, etc.

FGF7 Related Diseases

Diseases associated with FGF7 include mucositis, short bowel syndrome, acanthoma and apert syndrome. FGF7 is also associated with the occurrence and development of pulmonary fibrosis and kidney disease. It is also involved in the proliferation and recovery of hepatocytes and gastrointestinal epithelial cells.

Bioapplications of FGF7

FGF7 can be used as a therapeutic protein to stimulate epithelial cell proliferation and repair. For some diseases, such as burns, spherical corneas, etc., exogenous applications of FGF7 have been shown to promote tissue repair and regeneration. At the same time, it can be used as a marker of some diseases to assist disease diagnosis; In the field of scientific research, FGF7 can be used as a signaling molecule to build animal disease models.

Case Study 1: Shuyu Liu, 2023

Fig1. Representative images of EdU-positive cells in day 10 organoids (top). SOX9 expression (middle, confocal images; bottom, Arivis Vision4D-reconstructed light sheet images).

Case Study 2: Salvador Pérez-Mora, 2023

Fig2. Immunodetection of the EGF, FGF7, PCNA, and β-catenin proteins in histological sections.

FGF7 has several biochemical functions, for example, chemoattractant activity,growth factor activity,heparin binding. Some of the functions are cooperated with other proteins, some of the functions could acted by FGF7 itself. We selected most functions FGF7 had, and list some proteins which have the same functions with FGF7. You can find most of the proteins on our site.

FGF7 has direct interactions with proteins and molecules. Those interactions were detected by several methods such as yeast two hybrid, co-IP, pull-down and so on. We selected proteins and molecules interacted with FGF7 here. Most of them are supplied by our site. Hope this information will be useful for your research of FGF7.

FGFR2;UBQLN1;FGF1;DESI1