Description
Heparin-binding epidermal growth factor (HB-EGF)-like growth factor (EGF) is found in cerebral neurons. Its expression is increased after hypoxic or ischemic injury, which also stimulates neurogenesis. HB-EGF has been implicated as a participant in a variety of normal physiological processes such as blastocyst implantation and wound healing, and in pathological processes such as tumor growth, SMC hyperplasia and atherosclerosis. The protein is an 87 amino acid mitogenic and chemotactic glycoprotein containing an EGF-like domain with six conserved cysteine residues. Mouse HB-EGF shares about 81 % a.a. sequence identity with human HB-EGF