A cytokine implicated in cell differentiation and proliferation, and morphogenesis more generally. To date, twenty distinct fibroblast growth factors have been discovered, numbered consecutively from 1 to 20, each with quite diverse functions. For example, FGF-2 has been to shown to promote axon branching of cortical neurons through influencing the morphology and behavior of growth cones. A mutation in the FGF receptor 2 gene on chromosome 10 causes abnormalities of the skull and face, as well as the hands and feet. An important pathway by which such factors exert their influences in that of the tyrosine kinase receptor.
See Appendicular muscles, Chromosome, Cytokines, Differentiation (embryology), Fibroblasts, Growth cone, Growth factors, Morphogenesis, Myoblast, Tyrosine kinase receptor/pathway