Advances in the Research of Acidic Fibroblast Growth Factor Binding with Heparin

Acidic fibroblast growth factor(aFGF),also called heparin binding growth factor 1(HBG1) or fibroblast growth factor 1(FGF1),is one of the most important members of fibroblast growth factors family,and it plays a role as an important and broad-spectrum mitogen for a variety of cells.An essential component of biological activity of aFGF is the heparin mediated dimerization of the FGF receptor.Heparin was demonstrated to modulate the interaction of aFGF with FGF receptors(FGFR).The structure and function of the interaction of FGF1 with heparin and the rational drug design based on this knowledge are discussed.