RESUMO
Keratinocyte growth factor 2 (KGF-2) is a member of the FGF family that is mainly synthesized by mesenchymal cells and acta predominantly on epithelial cells in a paracrine manner. It is known to play an important role in fetal limb and lung development; skin wound healing and prostatic epithelial cell growth. The KGF-2 coding sequence were isolated from human kidney cDNA library, revealing that the Kgf-2 gene is also expressed in the kidney apparatus. Purified from prokaryotic E. coli cells, the effects of the recombinant KGF-2 protein in cultured keratinocyte were analyzed by using MTT assay and in situ TUNEL assay. Interestingly, results revealed that KGF-2 promoted keratinocyte cell growth by stimulating cell proliferation and attenuating cell apoptosis. These findings supported a few evidences that KGF-2 could contribute to alveolar epithelial cells against apoptosis. Cell migration assays for the first time revealed that KGF-2 could stimulate keratinocyte cell migration in vitro. In addition, in the pilot animal test, recombinant KGF-2 incorporated within the hydrogel dressing exhibited significantly stimulatory effect on cutaneous wound healing. These combined effects implicate a potential therapeutic application of human recombinant KGF-2 in the future.