Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is a 6,000 Da polypeptide hormone produced by glands of the gastrointestinal tract, namely the salivary and Brunner's glands. It is found in a wide variety of external secretions as well as in blood and amniotic fluid. In fetal and neonatal life, EGF appears to play an important role in the development of the oral cavity, lungs, gastrointestinal tract and eyelids. Its presence in cells of the central nervous system suggests that it also plays a role in modulating the development of this system. In adult animals, the function of EGF is much less well understood. In rodents, it apparently modulates acid secretion from parietal cells in the stomach, and it undoubtedly plays an important role in wound healing, either through its localization within skin or by the licking of wounds with EGF-containing saliva. Considerable evidence now suggests that it may be one of the key factors in initiating liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy or chemical injury. The liver appears to be the principal organ which regulates the circulating level of EGF. In fact, EGF is cleared so efficiently by the liver that only the peripheral cells of the lobule (zone 1) sequester EGF, and little remains in the circulation for cells in the more distal zones (zones 2 and 3). In the liver, EGF normally binds to a plasma membrane receptor and is internalized within the liver cell, where the vast majority of EGF and its receptor are destroyed in lysosomes. A small but consistent quantity of EGF enters the bile intact. In the regenerating liver, however, the lysosomal pathway appears to be shut down, and the EGF is diverted to hepatocyte nuclei prior to the initiation of DNA synthesis. Nuclear EGF is found free as well as bound to a high-molecular-weight protein which has many characteristics identical to the plasma membrane EGF receptor. The plasma membrane receptor is a large transmembrane glycoprotein of 170,000 Da containing four domains: an extracellular EGF-binding portion, a hydrophobic membrane-spanning segment, a proximal cytoplasmic domain which binds ATP and protein substrates containing tyrosine for phosphorylation and a terminal cytoplasmic portion with 3 tyrosines which undergo autophosphorylation after EGF binding.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Do cell-surface growth-factor receptors and their ligands accumulate in the nucleoplasm under physiological conditions? And, if so, how do they get there and what function do they serve in this location? Recent advances have provided tantalizing hints to the answers to these questions, and hold the key to identifying a new mode of signal transduction.

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False positive staining in the TUNEL assay in the liver is caused by the release of endogenous endonucleases as a result of proteinase treatment. This can be abolished by pretreatment of tissue slides with DEPC.

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Experiments undertaken to investigate the binding of epidermal growth factor by hepatocyte nuclei showed that: (a) isolated nuclei from both normal and regenerating rat liver are capable of binding 125I-epidermal growth factor, (b) the nuclear epidermal growth factor-binding protein is similar in molecular weight to the plasma membrane epidermal growth factor receptor, (c) monoclonal antibodies produced against the plasma membrane epidermal growth factor receptor recognize the nuclear epidermal growth factor receptor and (d) the nuclear receptor has an affinity for epidermal growth factor comparable to that of the plasma membrane receptor, but fewer (approximately 10%) nuclear receptors are available per protein unit compared with the plasma membrane.

Not applicable.

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) has widespread growth effects, and in some tissues proliferation is associated with the nuclear localization of EGF and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). In the thyroid, EGF promotes growth but differs from thyrotropin (TSH) in inhibiting rather than stimulating functional parameters. We have therefore studied the occurrence and cellular distribution of EGF and EGFR in normal thyroid, in Graves' disease, where growth is mediated through the thyrotropin receptor (TSHR), and in a variety of human thyroid tumors. In the normal gland the staining was variable, but largely cytoplasmic, for both EGF and EGFR. In Graves' disease there was strong cytoplasmic staining for both EGF and EGFR, with frequent positive nuclei. Nuclear positivity for EGF and particularly for EGFR was also a feature of both follicular adenomas and follicular carcinomas. Interestingly, nuclear staining was almost absent in papillary carcinomas. These findings document for the first time the presence of nuclear EGF and EGFR in thyroid. Their predominant occurrence in tissues with increased growth (Graves' disease, follicular adenoma, and carcinoma) may indicate that nuclear EGF and EGFR play a role in growth regulation in these conditions. The absence of nuclear EGF and EGFR in papillary carcinomas would suggest that the role played by EGF in growth control differs between papillary carcinoma and follicular adenomas/carcinomas of the thyroid.