Spred2 is a member of the Sprouty family, a group of proteins that act as negative regulators during development. Like Spred1, Spred2 acts by suppressing the phosphorylation and activation of Raf. The Spred proteins have also been implicated in the negative feedback regulation of FGF signaling in embryogenesis and angiogenesis. Further studies have shown that expression levels of Spred1 and Spred2 proteins are inversely correlated with the incidence of tumor invasion and metastasis in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HHC), suggesting that these proteins could be useful as prognostic factors and therapeutic targets in HCC. At least two isoforms of Spred2 are known to exist.
