Disease relevance of FGF20

• Elevated levels of FGF20 RNA were also observed in adenomas from mice carrying the Apc(Min)allele [1].
• FGF20 is applicable as the mucosal protective agent for inflammatory bowel disease and chemotherapy/radiation-induced oral mucositis, and also as the inducer of dopaminergic neurons for Parkinson's disease [2].
• FGF20 is up-regulated in colorectal cancer due to the activation of WNT/beta-catenin pathway [2].
• FGF-20 mRNA of 2.4 kb in size was detected in colon cancer cell line SW480 by Northern blot analysis [3].
• Preclinical characterization of CG53135 (FGF-20) in radiation and concomitant chemotherapy/radiation-induced oral mucositis [4].

High impact information on FGF20

• We demonstrated that FGF20, preferentially expressed in the substantia nigra, acts synergistically with FGF2 to increase the number of DA neurons in ES cell-derived neurospheres [5].
• Two genes strongly induced in both systems-FGF20 and DKK1-were studied in detail [1].
• FGF20 is a neurotrophic factor that is preferentially expressed within the substantia nigra of rat brain [6].
• Current research supports the involvement of fibroblast growth factor (FGF20) in the survival of dopaminergic cells [6].
• To test whether FGF20 influences risk of PD, we genotyped five single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) lying within the FGF20 gene, in a large family study [6].

Chemical compound and disease context of FGF20

• BACKGROUND: The effects of two recently discovered heparin binding growth factors, FGF-19 and FGF-20, on the human embryonal carcinoma derived cell line Tera 2 were examined [7].
• We show by gain- and loss-of-function in vitro experiments that FGF-20 promotes survival and stimulates dopamine (DA) release in a calbindin-negative subset of cells that are preferentially lost in Parkinson's disease [8].

Biological context of FGF20

• Comparative genomics on FGF20 orthologs [2].
• FGF20 is a target of pharmacogenomics in the field of oncology and regenerative medicine [2].
• The 5'-flanking promoter region, exonic regions except 3'-UTR, and middle regions within intron 1 were conserved between human FGF20 and mouse Fgf20 genes [2].
• Among 22 FGF family members within human and rodents genomes, FGF20 orthologs are evolutionarily conserved targets of the WNT/beta-catenin signaling pathway [9].
• Fibroblast growth factor 20 polymorphisms and haplotypes strongly influence risk of Parkinson disease [6].

Anatomical context of FGF20

• FGF18, FGF20 and SPRY4 are potent targets of the canonical WNT signaling pathway in the gastrointestinal tract [10].
• FGF-20 is expressed in normal brain, particularly the cerebellum, and in some cancer cell lines [11].
• Ectopic expression of FGF-20 in NIH 3T3 cells renders the cells transformed in vitro and tumorigenic in nude mice [11].
• Lower levels of FGF-20 mRNA were detected in human fetal tissues and primary cancers by cDNA-PCR [3].

Other interactions of FGF20

• Human FGF20 gene was linked to EFHA2 gene in head-to-head manner with an interval of about 25 kb [2].
• Phylogenic analysis indicated that FGF-20, FGF-9, and FGF-16 constitute a subfamily among the FGF family [3].
• Whereas FGF-20 promoted cell multiplication at low doses, FGF-19 was required at high doses to achieve a comparable effect [7].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of FGF20

• Molecular cloning and characterization of human FGF-20 on chromosome 8p21.3-p22 [3].

References