MITOGENIC ACTIVITY OF PEPTIDES RELATED TO THE SEQUENCE OF HUMAN FIBROBLAST GROWTH-FACTOR-I

Linear synthetic peptides related to the human Fibroblast Growth Facto r-1 (hFGF-1) segment [112-147] were tested for their capacity of mimic king FGF mitogenic activity, binding to heparin-Sepharose columns, sti mulating DNA synthesis and competing with hFGF-1 for the cellular rece ptors. The results obtained indicated that the activity of these compo unds is dependent on the presence of the sequence WFVGLK in their stru ctures. The affinity for the cellular receptors increased when this se quence was elongated in order to incorporate amino acid residues that are important for FGF-heparin binding.