FGF-8a, Human

Fibroblast Growth Factor 8a (FGF-8a) is a cytokine belonging to the heparin-binding FGF family, which has at least 23 members. FGF-8 has 8 different isoforms, named FGF-8a through FGF-8h. Different FGF-8 isoforms have different affinities to the receptors, and thus participate in different signaling cascade pathways. FGF-8 has very widespread expression during embryonic development, and is an organizer and inducer for gastrulation, somitogenesis, morphogenesis, and limb induction. However, FGF-8 is also a potential oncogene: in normal adult cells, FGF-8 has very low expression, but FGF-8 is highly expressed in cancer cells of breast, prostate, and ovarian tumors. FGF-8 promotes tumor angiogenesis by increasing neovascularization, and induces osteoblastic differentiation.