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Updated: May 10, 2026

Screening and Identification of Small Peptides Targeting Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor2 using a Phage Display Peptide Library
Published on: September 30, 2019
Small molecule inhibition of fibroblast growth factor receptors in cancer
Guang Liang1, Gaozhi Chen, Xiaoyan Wei
1School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou 325035, China.
Abstract:
Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) signal through FGF receptors (FGFRs), which are a sub-family of the superfamily of receptor tyrosine kinases, to regulate human development and metabolism. Uncontrolled FGF signaling is responsible for diverse array of developmental disorders, most notably skeletal syndromes due to FGFR gain-of-function mutations. Studies in the last few years have provided significant evidence for the importance of FGF signaling in the pathogenesis of diverse cancers, including endometrial and bladder cancers. FGFs are both potent mitogenic and angiogenic factors and can contribute to carcinogenesis by stimulating cell proliferation and tumor angiogenesis. Gene knockout and pharmacological inhibition of FGFRs in in vivo and in vitro models validate FGFRs as a target for cancer treatment. Considerable efforts are being expended to develop specific, small-molecule inhibitors for treating FGFR-driven cancers. Recent reviews on the FGF/FGFR system have focused primarily on signaling, pathophysiology, and functions in cancer. In this article, we review the key roles of FGFR in cancer, provide an update on the status of clinical trials with small-molecule FGFR inhibitors, and discuss how the current structural data on FGFR kinases guide the design and characterization of new FGFR inhibitors.
Insights
Fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFRs) are crucial in human development and metabolism. Aberrant FGFR signaling drives developmental disorders and cancers, making FGFRs a key target for novel cancer therapeutics.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Molecular Biology
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) transmit signals via FGF receptors (FGFRs), a receptor tyrosine kinase family.
- Dysregulated FGF signaling, often due to FGFR gain-of-function mutations, causes developmental disorders and is implicated in various cancers.
- FGFs promote cell proliferation and tumor angiogenesis, contributing to carcinogenesis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the critical roles of FGFRs in cancer development.
- To provide an update on clinical trials involving small-molecule FGFR inhibitors.
- To discuss the application of structural data in designing novel FGFR inhibitors.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on FGF/FGFR signaling in cancer.
- Analysis of data from in vivo and in vitro models of FGFR inhibition.
- Examination of current structural data of FGFR kinases.
Main Results:
- FGFRs play significant roles in the pathogenesis of cancers like endometrial and bladder cancer.
- Gene knockout and pharmacological inhibition studies confirm FGFRs as viable therapeutic targets.
- Ongoing clinical trials are evaluating small-molecule FGFR inhibitors for FGFR-driven cancers.
Conclusions:
- FGFRs are validated targets for cancer therapy due to their roles in proliferation and angiogenesis.
- The development of specific small-molecule FGFR inhibitors is a promising area for cancer treatment.
- Structural insights into FGFR kinases are instrumental in the rational design of new inhibitors.
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