Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P04626 (erbB-2)
 5,251 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Growth factors and growth factor receptors are considered to be key elements in the pathogenesis of arteriosclerosis and restenosis formation. To study the local expression of epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor, plaque tissue specimens from advanced lesions (10 coronary, two femoral, seven carotid) of 19 patients were taken for in situ hybridization studies using an EGF-specific cDNA probe. In serial vascular sections of three lesions with increased focal cellularity, autoradiographic silver grains were clearly localized to intimal cells adjacent to the internal elastic lamina. EGF mRNA transcripts were not observed in the fibrous cap, the plaque shoulders, necrotic intimal areas, or in the media. In smooth muscle cells (SMCs) cultured from human plaque tissue, EGF increased SMC proliferative activity in a dose-dependent manner (ED50: 3-6 ng of EGF/ml). Proliferative responsiveness to EGF (10 ng/ml) was found to be significantly (p < 0.01) enhanced in coronary SMCs derived from restenotic lesions as compared to those from primary stenoses. The expression of EGF receptor mRNA in human atheromatous lesions could be of prognostic value to predict an increased SMC proliferative response to stimulatory growth factors.
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PMID:[In situ detection of EGF receptor mRNA in arteriosclerotic lesions in man: implications for the proliferative activity of smooth muscle cells]. 144 90