“…EGFR IFIs are expected to provide a key balance to these positive feedback loops, because (i) LRIG1, SOCS4 and/or SOCS5 might promote ligand-independent EGFR degradation; (ii) RALT inhibits EGFR catalytic function regardless of the activating ligand (Anastasi et al, 2007); and (iii) LRIG1, SOCS4, SOCS5 and RALT antagonise the activity of all ErbB family members, including ERBB2, which acts as a signal amplifier. Consistent with this view, levels of EGFR ligands, such as heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF), which activates both EGFR and ErbB4, and amphiregulin, which stimulates EGFR without inducing receptor degradation, are increased in the lung and liver of Errfi1 -/-mice (Reschke et al, 2010;Jin et al, 2009), which might be regarded as both a consequence and cause of the unabated EGFR activity generated by unbalanced feedback control. that in control littermates.…”