Insulin-Like Growth Factor-Binding Proteins of Teleost Fishes

Abstract

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The insulin-like growth factor (Igf) binding protein (Igfbp) family has a broad range of physiological functions and a fascinating evolutionary history. This review focuses on the Igfbps of teleost fishes, where genome duplication events have diversified gene repertoire, function, and physiological regulation—with six core Igfbps expanded into a family of over twenty genes in some lineages. In addition to briefly summarizing the current state of knowledge on teleost Igfbp evolution, function, and expression-level regulation, we highlight gaps in our understanding and promising areas for future work.

Keywords

• insulin-like growth factor binding protein
• teleost fish
• genome duplication
• physiology
• comparative biology
• gene family evolution