Int. J. Dev. Biol. 46: 393 - 400 (2002)

Vol 46, Issue 4

Special Issue: Developmental Biology in Australia and New Zealand

The structure and function of vertebrate fibroblast growth factor receptor 1

Published: 1 July 2002

Casper Groth and Michael Lardelli

Department of Molecular Biosciences and Special Research Centre for the Molecular Genetics of Development, Adelaide University, SA, Australia. casper.groth@adelaide.edu.au

Abstract

The vertebrate fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) is alternatively spliced generating multiple splice variants that are differentially expressed during embryo development and in the adult body. The restricted expression patterns of FGFR1 isoforms, together with differential expression and binding of specific ligands, leads to activation of common FGFR1 signal transduction pathways, but may result in distinctively different biological responses as a result of differences in cellular context. FGFR1 isoforms are also present in the nucleus in complex with various fibroblast growth factors where they function to regulate transcription of target genes.