Background |
As a member of the epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinases subfamily, EGF R is a type I transmembrane glycoprotein that binds a subset of EGF family ligands including EGF, amphiregulin, TGF-alpha, betacellulin, etc. EGFR signaling plays a crucial role in the regulation of cell proliferation, survival and differentiation. Binding of a ligand induces EGFR homo- or hetero- dimerization, initiates subsequent tyrosine autophosphorylation and various downstream pathways (MAPK, PI3K/PKB and STAT). In addition, EGFR signaling has been shown to exert actions on carcinogenesis and disease progression, and thus EGFR was proposed as a target for cancer therapy currently. |