該基因編碼的蛋白是成纖維細胞生長因子（fgf）家族的一員。fgf家族成員具有廣泛的有絲分裂和細胞存活活性，參與胚胎發育、細胞生長、形態發生、組織修復、腫瘤生長和侵襲等多種生物學過程。這種蛋白對角化表皮細胞具有有絲分裂活性，但對成纖維細胞基本沒有活性，這與fgf7的生物學活性相似。小鼠同源基因的研究表明，該基因是胚胎表皮形態發生所必需的，包括腦發育、肺形態發生和lim芽形成的起始。這個基因也被認為是傷口愈合過程中的一個主要因素。[由RefSeq提供，2008年7月]
The protein encoded by this gene is a member of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family. FGF family members possess broad mitogenic and cell survival activities, and are involved in a variety of biological processes, including embryonic development, cell growth, morphogenesis, tissue repair, tumor growth and invasion. This protein exhibits mitogenic activity for keratinizing epidermal cells, but essentially no activity for fibroblasts, which is similar to the biological activity of FGF7. Studies of the mouse homolog of suggested that this gene is required for embryonic epidermal morphogenesis including brain development, lung morphogenesis, and initiation of lim bud formation. This gene is also implicated to be a primary factor in the process of wound healing. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]