Platelet-derived growth factor--its role in health and disease.

Abstract

It has been well known for many years that serum is required for the growth of most diploid cells in culture. Several attempts were made to determine the source of the growth activity present in serum. Partially purified fractions that contained mitogenic activity were isolated, but none of these demonstrated the cellular source of this proliferative activity. In 1974, it was observed that platelets were the source of the principal mitogenic activity present in whole blood serum and absent in cell-free plasma-derived serum.1,2 These observations were made initially for smooth muscle cellsl and subsequently for mouse embryo 3T3 cells.2 At that time it was not clear whether there was more than one growth factor present in platelets. However, the major mitogen released by platelets, which is the subject of this report, has been termed the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF).KeywordsSmooth Muscle CellHuman PlateletType Versus CollagenHuman Peripheral Blood MonocyteHuman Arterial Smooth Muscle CellThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.