Growth factors and hormones are essential signalling molecules that regulate a wide range of biological processes, including cell growth, proliferation, differentiation, metabolism, and gene expression. Growth factors are a class of signalling molecules that stimulate cell growth, proliferation, and survival. They can be secreted by neighbouring cells or released by the target cells themselves in an autocrine manner. They bind to specific cell surface receptors, initiating intracellular signalling cascades. For example, epidermal growth factor (EGF) binds to the EGF receptor (EGFR), a receptor tyrosine kinase, leading to receptor dimerization, tyrosine phosphorylation and enzyme activation. This triggers downstream signalling pathways, including the Ras-MAPK pathway and the PI3K-Akt pathway. Hormones are another important class of extracellular molecules involved in signal transduction. Hormones are generally secreted by specialized secretory cells act on target cells at distant sites in the body, again binding to specific receptors on target cells and initiating intracellular signalling events. Examples of hormones include peptide hormones such as insulin and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), thyroid hormones, and steroid hormones such as estrogen and testosterone. Insulin is a peptide hormone that regulates glucose metabolism by binding to the insulin receptor, a receptor tyrosine kinase, on target cells such as liver, muscle, and adipose tissue. Binding of insulin to its receptor triggers autophosphorylation of the receptor and activation of downstream signalling pathways, including the PI3K-Akt pathway. Activation of this pathway promotes glucose uptake, glycogen synthesis, and protein synthesis, ensuring proper glucose homeostasis. Non-peptide hormones such as thyroid hormones, including thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3), produced by the thyroid gland are involved in regulating metabolism, growth, and development. Thyroid hormones enter target cells and bind to intracellular receptors such as nuclear thyroid hormone receptors (TRs). Activated TRs then form complexes with coactivators and bind to specific DNA sequences (thyroid hormone response elements (TREs)) within target genes, modulating gene expression and cellular responses to thyroid hormone. Steroid hormones, such as estrogen and testosterone, are lipophilic molecules that can pass through the cell membrane and bind to intracellular receptors in the cytoplasm. Once bound to their receptors, hormone-receptor complexes translocate to the nucleus and interact with specific DNA sequences known as hormone response elements (HREs). This interaction also leads to changes in gene expression and regulation of various physiological processes, including sexual development, reproduction, and maintenance of secondary sexual characteristics. Finally, in addition to their specific roles, growth factors and hormones can also crosstalk and interact with each other's signalling pathways. For example, insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are growth factors that share similarities with insulin. They bind to the IGF receptor, which activates similar downstream signalling pathways as insulin, promoting cell growth and proliferation. Furthermore, growth factors and hormones often exert their effects through the activation of common signalling pathways. For instance, the PI3K-Akt pathway is a key downstream signalling pathway for both growth factors and insulin. This pathway regulates diverse cellular processes, including cell survival, growth, and metabolism. We offer a comprehensive product range of research tools for investigating growth factors and hormones, including EGFR antibodies, ErbB 2 antibodies, TNF alpha antibodies, TNF alpha ELISA Kits, and EGFR ELISA Kits. Explore our full growth factors and hormones product range below and discover more, for less. Alternatively, you can explore our Hormones, Insulin & Insulin like, and EGF product ranges.