EGF

EGF (epidermal growth factor) is a small secreted protein that stimulates epithelial cell proliferation by binding the EGFR receptor tyrosine kinase.

Function

EGF is released from membrane-bound EGF precursors by proteolytic cleavage and diffuses to neighboring cells. Binding to EGFR dimerizes the receptor and triggers its intracellular kinase cascade, which drives the target cell through G1 and into division. The EGF–EGFR pair was the first growth-factor system worked out at the molecular level: Stanley Cohen and Rita Levi-Montalcini received the 1986 Nobel Prize for the discovery, and the receptor became an early model for growth-factor-driven oncogenesis.

In cancer

Several tumors manufacture their own EGF-family ligands, creating