A.C. Rapraeger, A. Krufka, B.B. Olwin, "Requirement of heparan sulfate for bFGF-mediated fibroblast growth and myoblast differentiation," Science, 252:1705, 1991.
Alan Rapraeger (University of Wisconsin, Madison): "The gratifying aspect of this work has been its appeal to a wide group of scientists, owing to its relevance to cell-matrix interactions, cell growth and differentiation, and cell signaling mechanisms. The broad appeal of the work is partly because of the blending of my interests in the role of syndecans in cell-matrix interactions with the interests of Brad Olwin, a coauthor on the paper also at UW-Madison, in FGF signaling during muscle differentiation.
"The fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) have been envisioned to signal via tyrosine-kinase receptors, and these receptors and their variants are now being described in detail. However, the affinity of these growth factors for heparan sulfate has suggested an important role for heparan sulfate-bearing proteoglycans in FGF signaling. These proteo-glycans, particularly ...
