Evidence for the identity of human scatter factor and human hepatocyte growth factor.
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Weidner KM, Arakaki N, Hartmann G, Vandekerckhove J, Weingart S, Rieder H, Fonatsch C, Tsubouchi H, Hishida T, Daikuhara Y, et al.
Evidence for the identity of human scatter factor and human hepatocyte growth factor.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Aug 15;88(16):7001-5.
- PubMed ID
- 1831266 [ View in PubMed]
- Abstract
Scatter factor (SF), a secretory protein of fibroblasts, dissociates and increases the motility of epithelial cells and may be involved in cell migration processes during embryogenesis and tumor progression. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), a protein isolated from serum of patients with liver failure, is a potent mitogen for hepatocytes and is thought to play a role in liver regeneration. Here we present structural and functional evidence that human SF and human HGF (and also the human lung fibroblast-derived mitogen) are identical proteins encoded by a single gene, since (i) no major difference could be found by protein sequencing, by cDNA analysis, and by immunological comparison and (ii) SF in fact acts as a hepatocyte growth factor--i.e., stimulates DNA synthesis of activity--i.e., dissociates and induces invasiveness of various epithelial cells. The human SF/HGF gene was localized to chromosome bands 7q11.2-21. These results have important consequences for further studies on the involvement of SF/HGF as a modulator of cellular growth and motility in embryonal, malignant, and regenerative processes.