Growth factor

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Growth factor" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

A growth factor is a naturally occurring substance capable of stimulating cell proliferation, wound healing, and occasionally cellular differentiation.^[1] Usually it is a secreted protein or a steroid hormone. Growth factors are important for regulating a variety of cellular processes.

Growth factors typically act as signaling molecules between cells. Examples are cytokines and hormones that bind to specific receptors on the surface of their target cells.

They often promote cell differentiation and maturation, which varies between growth factors. For example, epidermal growth factor (EGF) enhances osteogenic differentiation (osteogenesis or bone formation),^[2] while fibroblast growth factors and vascular endothelial growth factors stimulate blood vessel differentiation (angiogenesis).