3.6. Migration and would healing assay of cp-hFGF7115-114
In-vitro scratch wound healing analysis was performed using NIH3T3 cells to evaluate the association between ERK activation and cell proliferation in FGF7-stimulated cells. As shown in Figure 4D, untreated NIH3T3 cells did not show migration after 72 h, whereas cells treated with cp-hFGF7115-114 and hFGF7 (50 ng/mL) revealed cell proliferation and wound repair by migration after 48 h. In this result, cp-hFGF7115-114 displayed comparable or better cell proliferation and wound healing ability than that of the wild type hFGF7. Additionally, it was found that cell proliferation was difficult to induce as that of the wild type hFGF7 using a low concentration of cp-hFGF7 (1 ng/mL). These results confirmed that cp-hFGF7115-114 retained the same or higher activity than the commercially available rhFGF7.
Since the potential activities for cell proliferation and migration were discovered, FGF7 has been considered a practical drug candidate. In fact, although it is not an intact form, the variant Palifermin with a 24-amino acid deletion from the N-terminal region is commercially available as a drug for the treatment of oral mucositis.38 Therefore, the wild type hFGF7 and its derivatives with suitable activity and stability would have potential for practical applications.