Growth Factors

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Growth factors are small peptide ligands necessary for a variety of signaling processes. Many growth factors are cytokines and direct the migration of immune cells. Other growth factor families function as hormones, and are secreted at very low levels to affect biological processes in potentially distal tissues and cell types. Each of these proteins interacts with one or a few specific receptors, controlling the cellular response to growth factor release. Normal processes regulated by growth factors include angiogenesis, apoptosis, developmental processes, inflammation, and wound healing. Growth factors are also recognized as a potential drug class, and many of these small peptides are recombinantly produced. Medical treatments for cardiovascular, hematologic, and oncologic diseases increasingly use growth factors. ...