Growth factors are natural compounds that can stimulate the growth, proliferation and / or differentiation of living cells [1] . As a rule, these are peptides or steroid hormones . Growth factors function as signaling molecules for interaction between cells. Examples are cytokines and hormones that bind to specific cellular receptors . The Italian neuroscientist Rita Levi-Montalcini for the discovery of growth factors, in particular, nerve growth factor , together with Stanley Cohen received the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine . Other well-known growth factors are erythropoietin and insulin-like growth factor 1 .
Content
Medical Use
Over the past two decades, growth factors have been increasingly used in the treatment of hematological and oncological diseases and cardiovascular diseases, such as:
- neutropenia
- myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)
- leukemia
- aplastic anemia
- bone marrow transplantation
- angiogenesis of cardiovascular disease
Notes
- β Dorland's Medical Dictionary (link not available)
Literature
- Murray R. et al . Human biochemistry - M., 1993.
See also
- A growth hormone