Definition
- Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) constitute a family of evolutionarily related polypeptides that play pivotal roles in various aspects of development, homeostasis, and repair. PMID 37858405
- basic fibroblast growth factor, is a potent stimulator of growth and differentiation in multiple tissues. PMID 37858405
Biological function
- Similarly, myokines, such as VEGF and FGF2, are released from the muscle to promote the formation of new blood vessels in the muscle itself, thereby improving endurance capacity PMID 40869331
- FGF-2 is a neurotrophic factor able to regulate neurogenesis, synaptic formation, and growth PMID 37298063
- FGF2 plays pleiotropic roles in the development and function of multiple organ systems, regulating cell proliferation, differentiation, and migration in large part through activation of the FGFRs. PMID 37858405
- FGF2 regulates cell survival, proliferation, migration, multilineage differentiation, and stemness in stromal cells. PMID 41583576
Exerkine classification
- The liver releases hepatokines, such as FGF21, during exercise and angiopoietin-
- like 4, which helps regulate plasma triglycerides when the energy demand is high PMID 40869331
- These results suggested that aerobic exercise upregulated FGF21 expression to activate the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway PMID 37535710
- FGF21 is also considered as an exerkine, and its expression is elevated in circulatory and metabolic organs after exercise PMID 37535710
Therapeutic potential
- Recent meta-analyses have suggested that chronic exercise reduces circulating FGF21 levels in adults with metabolic disorders, potentially reflecting improved FGF21 sensitivity and metabolic health PMID 40869331
- In chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and allergen-induced asthma, FGF2-mediated downregulation of inflammation has been investigated as a potential therapeutic PMID 37858405
- FGF2 is a key regulator of bone development and contributes to a host of bone-related disorders PMID 37858405
- FGF2 is also implicated in cardiomyopathy as a hypertrophic and regenerative stimulus for cardiomyocytes PMID 37858405
- FGF2 plays a large role in promoting motility of cancer cells as well as metastasis. Interestingly, however, FGF2 suppresses Ewing’s sarcoma family of tumors in neuroblastoma cells via cell cycle arrest and apoptosis PMID 37858405
- In this study, we found that aerobic exercise could promote angiogenesis by activating FGF21/FGFR1/PI3K/AKT/VEGF signaling pathway and improve cardiac function in myocardial infarction mice. It is indicated that FGF21 is an essential exercise factor to mediate the protective effect of aerobic exercise on a heart with MI. PMID 37535710
- Moreover, many evidences have shown that exercise promoted the expression of FGF21 in circulatory and metabolic organs PMID 37535710
- making FGF a crucial target for new drug development due to its involvement in promoting tumor metastasis and angiogenesis. FGF-targeted therapies hold great promise for advancing cancer treatment, offering a potential factor for the development of more potent and selective FGFR inhibitors, identifying predictive biomarkers for treatment response, and exploring combination therapies to overcome resistance mechanisms and improve patient outcomes across various cancer types. PMID 39796710
Evidence
1,930PubMed publications, last 5 years#13 of 35
32%Mention “therapeutic” or “therapy”613 publications
625Registered clinical trials#11 of 35
133Active or recruiting trials
Therapeutic mentionOther
Early phase 1 · 11Phase 1 · 136Phase 2 · 232Phase 3 · 57Phase 4 · 26Not applicable · 159
PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov, snapshot of February 2026. Counts are keyword-based and include every study that mentions FGF2. Compare across exerkines →
References 6
Primary literature cited in this profile. Each identifier opens the article on PubMed.