Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 18, 2025
11:28
Affinity Precipitation of Active Rho-GEFs Using a GST-tagged Mutant Rho Protein GST-RhoAG17A from Epithelial Cell Lysates
Published on: March 31, 2012
16.6K
FGF1
Sahar B Jamal1, Dorit Hockman1
1Division of Cell Biology, Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; Neuroscience Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Differentiation; Research in Biological Diversity
|July 29, 2024
Summary
Fibroblast Growth Factor 1 (FGF1) regulates development and disease. FGF1 mutants develop severe diabetes and adipose tissue issues when fed a high-fat diet, revealing its crucial role in metabolic health.
Area of Science:
- Molecular Biology
- Developmental Biology
- Metabolic Research
Background:
- Fibroblast Growth Factor 1 (FGF1), or acidic FGF (aFGF), is a polypeptide regulating diverse biological processes.
- FGF1 is highly expressed in adult brain and kidney and its gene expression is controlled by multiple tissue-specific promoters.
- FGF1 plays a role in development, with widespread gene expression in the neural tube, heart, and lung.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the physiological role of FGF1, particularly in metabolic regulation.
- To understand the impact of FGF1 deficiency on organismal health under specific dietary conditions.
- To explore the potential of FGF1 signaling pathways for therapeutic interventions.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of mouse mutants for the Fgf1 gene.
- Phenotypic characterization of Fgf1 mutants under standard and high-fat diet conditions.
- Assessment of adipose tissue expansion and diabetic phenotypes.
Main Results:
- Fgf1 mutant mice exhibit normal phenotypes under standard laboratory conditions.
- Exposure to a high-fat diet induces an aggressive diabetic phenotype in Fgf1 mutants.
- Aberrant adipose tissue expansion is observed in Fgf1 mutant mice on a high-fat diet.
Conclusions:
- FGF1 plays a critical role in preventing metabolic dysfunction, particularly diabetes and aberrant adipose tissue expansion, under high-fat diet conditions.
- FGF1 signaling pathways are important targets for understanding and treating metabolic diseases like diabetes.
- Further research into FGF1 is crucial for advancing developmental biology and developing novel therapeutic strategies.
Related Concept Videos
01:30Transducer Mechanism: G Protein–Coupled Receptors
1.9K
G Protein–Coupled Receptors (GPCRs) are membrane-bound receptors that transiently associate with heterotrimeric G proteins and induce an appropriate response to various stimuli. GPCRs regulate critical physiological pathways and are excellent drug targets for treating diseases such as diabetes, cancer, obesity, depression, or Alzheimer's. Nearly 35% of approved drugs implement their therapeutic effects by selectively interacting with specific GPCRs.
GPCRs are also called heptahelical,...
GPCRs are also called heptahelical,...
1.9K
01:22Activation and Inactivation of G Proteins
6.9K
Heterotrimeric G proteins are guanine nucleotide-binding proteins. As the name suggests, heterotrimeric G proteins are composed of three subunits: alpha, beta, and gamma. They remain GDP-bound or GTP-bound inside the cells and switch between inactive/active states. The Gα subunit possesses the nucleotide-binding pocket that binds guanine nucleotides and switches between GDP or GTP-bound states. In contrast, the Gꞵ and Gγ subunits are always bound together with high...
6.9K
02:07FISH - Fluorescent In-situ Hybridization
20.5K
Fluorescence in situ hybridization, or FISH, was developed in the early 1980s and has quickly become one of the most widely used techniques in cytogenetics. Labeled probes are used to bind complementary DNA or RNA sequences on a chromosome or in a region within a cell. Earlier, the probes could only be obtained by cloning or reverse transcription of a DNA template. Currently, the probe oligonucleotides can be synthesized synthetically. Additionally, with the advancement of optical techniques,...
20.5K
02:11Reporter Genes
11.3K
Reporter genes are a type of protein-coding gene that are often tagged to a gene of interest. Once inside a target cell, reporter genes usually produce visually identifiable characteristics like fluorescence and luminescence when expressed along with the gene of interest. Thus, reporter genes “report” the presence or absence of genes of interest in an organism, determine the gene expression pattern, or track the physical location of a DNA segment or protein in the cell.
11.3K
01:16TGF - β Signaling Pathway
7.3K
The TGF-β signaling pathway regulates cell growth, differentiation, adhesion, motility, and development. TGF-β ligands that induce TGF-β signaling are synthesized in their latent form. Several proteases or cell surface receptors such as integrins act upon the latent form, releasing the active ligand. There are three types of mammalian TGF-βs: (TGF-β1, TGF-β2, and TGF-β3) that bind as homodimers or heterodimers to TGF-β receptors. The TGF-β receptors...
7.3K
01:57Protein Complexes with Interchangeable Parts
2.5K
Groups of proteins may form a complex where each protein in this complex has a different role in the overall execution of the complex’s function. Often some of the proteins in the complex can be replaced by a closely related variant to give a complex that contains many of the same components yet is functionally distinct.
The SCF ubiquitin ligase is a protein complex of five individual proteins. This complex attaches ubiquitin to other target proteins to mark them for degradation. In order...
The SCF ubiquitin ligase is a protein complex of five individual proteins. This complex attaches ubiquitin to other target proteins to mark them for degradation. In order...
2.5K