Functional Role of Milk Fat Globule-Epidermal Growth Factor VIII in Macrophage-Mediated Inflammatory Responses and Inflammatory/Autoimmune Diseases
Inflammation involves a series of complex biological processes mediated by innate immunity for host defense against pathogen infection. Chronic inflammation is considered to be one of the major causes of serious diseases, including a number of autoimmune/inflammatory diseases, cancers, cardiovascula...
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Main Author: | |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Wiley
2016-01-01
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Series: | Mediators of Inflammation |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/5628486 |
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Summary: | Inflammation involves a series of complex biological processes mediated by innate immunity for host defense against pathogen infection. Chronic inflammation is considered to be one of the major causes of serious diseases, including a number of autoimmune/inflammatory diseases, cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and neurological diseases. Milk fat globule-epidermal growth factor 8 (MFG-E8) is a secreted protein found in vertebrates and was initially discovered as a critical component of the milk fat globule. Previously, a number of studies have reported that MFG-E8 contributes to various biological functions including the phagocytic removal of damaged and apoptotic cells from tissues, the induction of VEGF-mediated neovascularization, the maintenance of intestinal epithelial homeostasis, and the promotion of mucosal healing. Recently, emerging studies have reported that MFG-E8 plays a role in inflammatory responses and inflammatory/autoimmune diseases. This review describes the characteristics of MFG-E8-mediated signaling pathways, summarizes recent findings supporting the roles of MFG-E8 in inflammatory responses and inflammatory/autoimmune diseases, and discusses MFG-E8 targeting as a potential therapeutic strategy for the development of anti-inflammatory/autoimmune disease drugs. |
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ISSN: | 0962-9351 1466-1861 |