Recombinant bovine/porcine FGF-2 (bFGF) 145aa protein (Qk040-FG)

Summary

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This protein has recently been reformulated and will now arrive lyophilized. This change has been made to provide enhanced stability to ensure that we offer the best customer experience in terms of shipping and storage and to align with our company sustainability goals. Please visit our reconstitution page or contact customerservice@qkine.com for further information or to request the previous datasheet.

Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) are a family of growth factors which regulate a wide range of essential biological functions including cell proliferation and survival, migration and differentiation [1]. The human FGF family has 18-22 members grouped into 6-7 subfamilies based on sequence homology and phylogeny [2]. The FGF family of growth factors have critical roles during both vertebrate and invertebrate embryonic development, in adult cells they modulate tissue maintenance, wound healing and angiogenesis [1,2]. The FGF ligands bind to 4 receptors (FGFR1-4), transmembrane receptors with intracellular tyrosine kinase activity [2, 3]. Once activated FGFRs recruit Src homology-2 (SH2) or phosphotyrosine binding (PTB) domain-containing signaling proteins leading to activation of intracellular signaling pathways [1]. The main signaling pathways activated by FGF binding are the RAS/MAP kinase pathway, PI3 kinase/Akt pathway, and PLCγ pathways [1-3].

Fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2) also known as basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) has a broad range of physiological roles including regulation of cell growth, survival and proliferation. FGF-2 is one of the FGFs which binds to and signals through all four of the FGFRs [4]. FGF-2 is an essential growth factor for the maintenance of pluripotency in human embryonic stem cells (ESCs), induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) [4-6] and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) [7]. FGF-2 preserves pluripotency through interaction with PI3 kinase/Akt, ERK1/2, JAK/STAT and PLCγ pathways by activation of activin A. In feeder culture systems FGF-2 stimulates production of essential growth factors and cytokines from the feeder layer [7].

FGF-2 is an important factor in muscle development and healing after injury [8]. Cultured meat is a potential sustainable food generated through the in vitro myogenesis of muscle satellite (stem) cells (MSCs), involving MSC culture and differentiation, and mature muscle cell processing for flavor and texture [9]. FGF-2 induces the proliferation of cultured myoblasts and inhibits their differentiation [8, 9].

FGF-2 is an important component of Beefy9, a serum free media developed for the in vitro expansion of MSCs for cultured meat, Beefy9 allows for expansion of MSC while preserving myogenicity [10]. The two forms of recombinant bovine/porcine FGF2 protein 154 aa (Qk056-FG) and 145 aa (Qk040-FG)  available from Qkine facilitate the development of fully optimized serum-free culture media for cellular agriculture applications.