----- Original Message ----- From: "DS" <[log in to unmask]> > my eyes glazed over reading this. is there a summary available? :) Betacellulin: A Hormone that Binds the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor The EGF receptor is a pro-miscuous receptor in that it doesn't just bind a single hormone (EGF), but rather binds a large family of hor-mones including transforming growth factor alpha(TGF-á ), heparin binding EGF(HB-EGF), epiregulin (EPR), amphiregulin (AR), neuregulins 1, 2, 3 and 4 (NRG1, NRG2, NRG3, NRG4) and betacellulin (BTC) (9). The key hormone to remember here is betacellulin because it is found in cow's milk in high concentrations. Betacellulin is a very stable hormone in that it is not degraded by the heat of pasteurization and is even found in high concentrations in cheese (10). When you drink cow's milk or eat cheese, you are, in effect, dosing yourself with betacellulin. You might think that protein shearing enzymes in your gut would breakdown betacellulin and other hormones belonging to the EGF hormonal family before they can get to the gut EGF receptor. How-ever, this is not the case,