Abstract
Melanocyte growth is tightly controlled by a complex network of cell-cell communications and soluble growth factors. In situations where this delicate homeostasis is upset, the same melanocyte growth factors probably lead to the uncontrolled cell growth associated with melanoma. In this issue of the JID a paper byStove and colleagues (2003) adds yet another member to the growing list of growth factors implicated in melanocyte control. The newest members of this ever-expanding family are the Heregulins (HRG), which are ligands for the 4-membered human epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) family (also known as HER1-4 and ErbB1-4). The HER family of receptors is well known to cancer biologists as its members are often aberrantly overexpressed or mutated in a number of human tumors. Greater understanding of the HER/HRG system has led to therapeutic advances, with a humanized antibody (Herceptin Genetech, San Francisco, CA) to the HER2 receptor being used to treat metastatic breast cancer.
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