Epidermal growth factor and skin care

Growth factors are proteins that occur in many different organisms like plants, insects, and animalsincludinghumans. Theyplay a hugerole in regulating cellular growth, proliferation, and differentiation. Growth factorswere first discovered in the 1950s and the scientists wholed the research were awarded the Nobel Prizein 1986. Growth factors’ application in skin care products along with its pharmaceutical and dermatological researches have been expanding eversince. GrowthFactorsconsist of manysubfamiliesincludingepidermalgrowth factor (EGF), fibroblastgrowth factor (FGF), insulin-like growth factor (IGF), erythropoietin, hematopoietic, just to name a few. As one of the natural substances found in human skin cells, this group of proteins repairs damaged cells and when present in the skin it stimulates collagen and elastin production to maintain healthy and youthful skin. This book is focused on EGF and FGF. EGF – Epidermal Growth Factor helps stimulating cell growth in tissues throughout the human body. Binding with the receptor EGFR, this protein increases the cell count and skin turnover while boosting the production of collagen and elastin resulting in reduced wrinkles and rejuvenated and improved skin texture. FGF – Fibroblast Growth Factors ; With a total of 22 family members, FGF stimulates the proliferation of fibroblasts, healing wounds, embryonic development, and angiogenesis. It also promotes the blood vessels development and collagen synthesis of the dermis.