Wilhelm Engström

Publications (2)3.95 Total impact

• Article: Insulin-Like Growth Factor 2 in Development and Disease: A Mini-Review.

  Daniel Bergman, Matilda Halje, Matilda Nordin, Wilhelm Engström
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  ABSTRACT: Background: Insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) is a protein hormone known to regulate cell proliferation, growth, migration, differentiation and survival. The gene is parentally imprinted in the sense that transcripts are almost exclusively derived from the paternal allele. Loss of imprinting of the IGF2 gene is a recurrent observation in growth disorders that combine overgrowth with a variety of malignant tumours. Moreover, IGF2 has been proposed to play a role in the development of a variety of seemingly unrelated cancers that play an important role in geriatric medicine, e.g. breast cancer, colon cancer and lung cancer. Finally, IGF2 has been implicated in cardiovascular disease, since, for example, IGF2 has been shown to influence the size of atherosclerotic lesions. Objective: To summarize current knowledge about IGF2, its interactions with binding proteins and receptors and connections with key diseases. Methods: The contents of this paper were based on reviews of existing literature within the field. Results: There is a substantial amount of research linking IGF2 to growth disorders, cancer and to a much lesser degree cardiovascular disease. Some of the studies on IGF2 and tumour growth have yielded conflicting results, for instance regarding its effect on apoptosis. Conclusion: Today, our knowledge on how IGF2 is composed and interacts with receptors has come a long way. However, there is comparatively little information on how IGF2 affects tumour growth and cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis. Thus, further research will be needed to elucidate the impact of IGF2 on key diseases.
  Gerontology 12/2012; · 2.78 Impact Factor
• Article: Review: The effect of insulin-like growth factor II in the regulation of tumour cell growth in vitro and tumourigenesis in vivo.

  Matilda Halje, Matilda Nordin, Daniel Bergman, Wilhelm Engström
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  ABSTRACT: Insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) is a protein hormone that has been shown to exert several biological functions in mammals. IGF-II is produced mainly by the liver and to be systemically released to affect both the liver, in an autocrine and paracrine manner, as well as other tissues, through endocrine signaling. Nevertheless, it is also produced locally in various other tissues acting via autocrine and paracrine signalling. Research over the last decades has suggested that IGF-II also has a stimulatory effect on tumour cell growth but there are some notable exceptions to this rule. This conflicting view may have several explanations and hence current research has focused on gaining further insight into the transcriptional regulation and the metabolic pathways of IGF-II, which is hoped will result in greater understanding of the role of IGF-II in tumour development and new cancer therapies. This article aims at reviewing some of the key findings on how IGF-II affects tumour cells in vitro, as well as in vivo.
  In vivo (Athens, Greece) 07/2012; 26(4):519-26. · 1.17 Impact Factor