# Research progress and strategies for the biosynthesis of keratinocyte growth factor-2 (KGF-2) in Arabidopsis thaliana

## TL;DR

This review explores using Arabidopsis thaliana to produce a fusion protein that enhances the skin-penetrating ability of KGF-2 for hair growth and skincare applications.

## Contribution

Proposes using Arabidopsis to express a TDP1-KGF-2 fusion protein to improve KGF-2 transdermal delivery and plant-based production.

## Key findings

- KGF-2 has potential for skincare and hair growth but is limited by poor transdermal penetration.
- Fusion with CPPs like TD1 can enhance KGF-2's ability to cross the skin barrier.
- Arabidopsis thaliana is a feasible system for expressing KGF-2 fusion proteins.

## Abstract

This review examines the current research progress of molecular agriculture for cytokine expression, the research status of keratinocyte growth factor-2 (KGF-2) for skin care, hair growth, and the research status of plants for hair growth. KGF-2 application and use are inhibited by factors, such as the cost of production and efficacy due to low transdermal penetration potential. However, cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) are powerful transporter tools that assist the transmembrane delivery of attached biomacromolecules. Biomacromolecules such as KGF-2 have poor transdermal ability, which can be enhanced by combining with CPP such as TD1 to construct fusion proteins. Arabidopsis thaliana has many advantages, such as short growth cycle, high transformation efficiency, large biomass and hair growth promotion substances. Therefore, we also discuss the feasibility and expression strategies of using A. thaliana plant system to express fusion protein TDP1-KGF-2, which provides new idea for enhancing the transdermal ability of KGF-2 and providing new idea for plant system expression of fusion protein. This offers a promising new direction for the development of natural hair care and hair growth materials, as well as innovative possibilities for the application of molecular agriculture.