Heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) is a member of the EGF family of proteins that in humans is encoded by the HBEGFgene.
HB-EGF-like growth factor is synthesized as a membrane-anchored mitogenic and chemotacticglycoprotein. An epidermal growth factor produced by monocytes and macrophages, due to an affinity for heparin is termed HB-EGF. It has been shown to play a role in wound healing, cardiac hypertrophy, and heart development and function.[5] First identified in the conditioned media of human macrophage-like cells, HB-EGF is an 87-amino acid glycoprotein that displays highly regulated gene expression.[6] Ectodomain shedding results in the soluble mature form of HB-EGF, which influences the mitogenicity and chemotactic factors for smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts. The transmembrane form of HB-EGF is the unique receptor for diphtheria toxin and functions in juxtacrine signaling in cells. Both forms of HB-EGF participate in normal physiological processes and in pathological processes including tumor progression and metastasis, organ hyperplasia, and atherosclerotic disease.[7] HB-EGF can bind two locations on cell surfaces: heparan sulfate proteoglycans and EGF-receptors effecting cell-to-cell interactions.[8]
^Das SK, Wang XN, Paria BC, Damm D, Abraham JA, Klagsbrun M, Andrews GK, Dey SK (May 1994). "Heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor gene is induced in the mouse uterus temporally by the blastocyst solely at the site of its apposition: a possible ligand for interaction with blastocyst EGF-receptor in implantation". Development. 120 (5): 1071–83. doi:10.1242/dev.120.5.1071. PMID8026321.