Functional Role of Milk Fat Globule-Epidermal Growth Factor VIII in Macrophage-Mediated Inflammatory Responses and InflammatoryAutoimmune Diseases

Abstract EN

Inflammation involves a series of complex biological processes mediated by innate immunity for host defense against pathogen infection.

Chronic inflammation is considered to be one of the major causes of serious diseases, including a number of autoimmune/inflammatory diseases, cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and neurological diseases.

Milk fat globule-epidermal growth factor 8 (MFG-E8) is a secreted protein found in vertebrates and was initially discovered as a critical component of the milk fat globule.

Previously, a number of studies have reported that MFG-E8 contributes to various biological functions including the phagocytic removal of damaged and apoptotic cells from tissues, the induction of VEGF-mediated neovascularization, the maintenance of intestinal epithelial homeostasis, and the promotion of mucosal healing.

Recently, emerging studies have reported that MFG-E8 plays a role in inflammatory responses and inflammatory/autoimmune diseases.

This review describes the characteristics of MFG-E8-mediated signaling pathways, summarizes recent findings supporting the roles of MFG-E8 in inflammatory responses and inflammatory/autoimmune diseases, and discusses MFG-E8 targeting as a potential therapeutic strategy for the development of anti-inflammatory/autoimmune disease drugs.