Epidermal Growpi Factor: Its Relevance to Dermatology

Abstract

Since epidermal growth factor (EGF) and related growth factors have been cloned and are available for clinical trials, the field of peptide growth factors is of general clinical interest. All known effects of EGF are mediated by its binding and activating specific membrane receptors, which contain a tyrosine protein kinase intrinsic to the EGF receptor. In psoriasis and other proliferative skin conditions, levels of EGF receptors are increased because of persistent expression proportional to the degree of abnormal differentiation. What factors cause these EGF receptor abnormalities is unknown, but factors other than EGF, such as transforming growth factors (TGFs), may regulate EGF receptors. For example, in a patient with malignant melanoma the sign of Leser-Trelat, malignant acanthosis nigricans and eruptive achrochordons, was due to changes in EGF/TGFa metabolism. Therefore, growth factor interactions may play a controlling role in proliferative skin diseases, wound healing, cancers, and paraneoplastic syndromes.