Interaction of FGF9 with FGFR3‐IIIb/IIIc, a putative driver of growth and aggressive behaviour of hepatocellular carcinoma

Recently, overexpression of the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) splice variants FGFR3-IIIb and FGFR3-IIIc was found in ~50% of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, we aim to identify FGFR3-IIIb/IIIc ligands, which drive the progression of HCC.FACS, MTT assay and/or growth curves served to identify the FGFR3-IIIb/IIIc ligand being most effective to induce growth of hepatoma/hepatocarcinoma cell lines, established from human HCC. The...