Structure and activity of insect cytokine GBP which stimulates the EGF receptor

Mol Cells. 2002 Aug 31;14(1):1-8.

Abstract

Growth-blocking peptide (GBP) is an insect cytokine that possesses diverse biological activities such as larval growth regulation, cell proliferation, and stimulation of immune cells. GBP is a 25-amino acid peptide with one disulfide bond. It has been revealed that the tertiary structure of GBP consists of an N- and C-terminal disordered region and a well-structured core. Although there is only a slight similarity between the primary structures of GBP and EGF and the molecular weight of GBP is about half that of EGF, GBP directly binds and activates the EGF receptor of human keratinocyte cells. Furthermore, the tertiary structure of the well-defined region of GBP is similar to that of the C-terminal domain of EGF. This review will focus on the tertiary structure of GBP and its activities, as compared with those of EGF.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Cytokines / chemistry*
  • Cytokines / metabolism*
  • ErbB Receptors / metabolism*
  • Insect Proteins / chemistry*
  • Insect Proteins / metabolism*
  • Insecta / chemistry*
  • Insecta / metabolism*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Sequence Alignment

Substances

  • Cytokines
  • Insect Proteins
  • growth blocking peptide, Apanteles kariyai
  • ErbB Receptors