Growth Factor
Signaling proteins that stimulate cell growth, proliferation, and differentiation. Growth factors bind to receptors on cell surfaces and trigger internal cascades that control when and how cells divide.
Biological Context
Major growth factors include EGF (epidermal growth factor, stimulates skin and epithelial cells), FGF (fibroblast growth factor, promotes wound healing), PDGF (platelet-derived, released during blood clotting to stimulate repair), and VEGF (vascular endothelial, triggers blood vessel formation). Cancer often involves mutations in growth factor pathways—cells that divide without needing external growth signals, or that produce their own growth factors in an autocrine loop.
Business Application
Growth factors in business are the signals that trigger expansion: capital injections, customer traction, market opportunity, and leadership decisions to invest. Like biological growth factors, they must bind to receptive structures (capabilities, culture, infrastructure) to have effect. Companies that produce their own growth signals—generating cash flow to fund expansion—achieve the business equivalent of autocrine signaling.