Interactions between ECM proteins and growth factors were only thought to concentrate growth factors and to enhance their multimerisation for signalling. However, recent studies indicate that binding of growth factors to ECM proteins may enhance interactions between multi-domain ECM proteins, such as fibronectin (FN), with cell surface receptors, mostly integrins. The discovery of P12 revealed that a small peptide can mimic the role of FN with PDGF-BB, suggesting that some ECM-growth factor interactions may be less complex. P12 can not only bind to PDGF-BB, but also promote cell survival and improve rat skin burns in a dose dependent manner.

P12 may have a clinical potential, especially in the reduction of cell death after tissue damage.