Basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF‐2): The high molecular weight forms come of age

After over thirty years from its discovery, research on basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF‐2) keeps revealing new aspects of the complexity of its gene expression as it evolved in the eukaryotic organisms. The discovery of multiple forms of FGF‐2 generated by alternative translation from AUG and non‐canonical CUG codons on the same mRNA transcript has led to the characterization of a low molecular weight (LMW) FGF‐2 form and various high molecular weight (HMW) forms (four in humans). In this review, we discuss the biochemical features and biological activities of the different FGF‐2 forms. In particular, we focus on the properties that are unique to the HMW forms and its biological functions. J. Cell. Biochem. 100: 1100–1108, 2007.