Fibroblast Growth Factor-basic (FGF-basic), also known as FGF-2, is a pleiotropic cytokine and one of the prototypic members of the heparin-binding FGF family. Like other FGF family members, bFGF has the ß trefoil structure. In vivo, bFGF is produced by a variety of cells, including cardiomycotes, fibroblasts, and vascular cells. bFGF regulates a variety of processes including cell proliferation, differentiation, survival, adhesion, motility, apoptosis, limb formation and wound healing. bFGF can be tumorigenic due to its role in angiogenesis and blood vessel remodeling. The angiogenic effects of bFGF can produce beneficial cardioprotection during acute heart injury.
Recombinant human Fibroblast Growth Factor-basic (rhFGF-basic) produced in E. coli is a single non-glycosylated polypeptide chain containing 154 amino acids. A fully biologically active molecule, rhFGF-basic has a molecular mass of 17.1 kDa analyzed by reducing SDS-PAGE and is obtained by proprietary chromatographic techniques at GenScript.