Kevin G. Peters (Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C.): "Members of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family are powerful regulators of cell growth and differentiation that stimulate cells by activating specific receptor, tyrosine kinases. In this and a previous paper (K.G. Peters et al., Development, 114:233-43, 1992), we have shown that three of the four known FGF receptor genes are expressed in virtually all differentiating organs, but that the individual genes have specific patterns of expression that are, for the most part, nonoverlapping. These results suggest that FGFs play important roles in the development of multiple-organ systems and that individual receptor genes have very specific functions.
"These expression studies have since been used by us and others to guide efforts to establish specific roles for two of the FGF receptor genes during organ development. First, knowing that one of the FGF receptors--FGF receptor 2--was ...
