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Insulin-Like Growth Factor (IGF)

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Endocrine Pathology

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Pathology ((EP))

  • 13 Accesses

Definition

Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are peptide hormones of the insulin superfamily. IGFs levels are regulated by the secretion of the growth hormone (GH) and own a trophic activity on target tissues. In tumors, including neuroendocrine neoplasms, the aberrant IGFs production has been suggested to regulate cancer development and progression.

Synonyms

Non-suppressible insulin-like activity (NSILA); Somatomedin; Sulfation factor

Features

IGFs are members of the insulin-related peptides (insulin superfamily), a category of small proteins with sequence and structure related to “Insulin” (Rinderknecht and Humbel 1978). Two IGFs circulating ligands are known, namely, IGF-1 and IGF-2, firstly identified in 1957 (Salmon and Daughaday 1957). IGF-1 and IGF-2, which share amino acid positions and have 50% amino acid homology to insulin, are members of a signaling system referred to as the IGF axis, involving their two specific cell-surface receptors IGF1R and IGF2R, seven IGF-binding...

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References and Further Reading

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Histopathology, Central Institute, Valais Hospital, Sion, Switzerland

    Amedeo Sciarra

Authors
  1. Amedeo Sciarra
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Correspondence to Amedeo Sciarra .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Insubria, Varese, Italy

    Stefano La Rosa

  2. Department of Medicine and Surgery, Unit of Pathology, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy

    Silvia Uccella

  3. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University and Service of Pathology, Humanitas Research Hospital, Milan, Italy

    Silvia Uccella

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Sciarra, A. (2022). Insulin-Like Growth Factor (IGF). In: La Rosa, S., Uccella, S. (eds) Endocrine Pathology. Encyclopedia of Pathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62345-6_5143

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62345-6_5143

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-62344-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-62345-6

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