It protects, for instance, against obesity and atherosclerosis [73], viral infections [69,72], and apoptosis in senescent fibroblasts [122]; it also promotes Elk1-mediated and EGF-dependent transcriptional activation, thus supporting cell survival [61]; likewise, it prevents growth inhibition under conditions of nutritional stress in Dictyostelium amoebae [221]. This evidence concerns the gene EGF and obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency.