BACKGROUND The development of biosensors, based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technology, enables monitoring of a variety of biospecific interactions without the need for chemical-, biological- or radiological-labelled reagents. METHOD We utilised SPR to detect hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in reconstituted faecal samples and studied samples from patients with infectious gastroenteritis...

TGF-β signaling can promote tumor formation and development or suppress it, depending on the cellular context and tumor stage. A potential target of this dual effect of TGF-β is HGF, as TGF-β can inhibit or promote its expression, although the mechanisms underlying this are largely unknown. In the present study, we found that mice with keratinocyte-specific deletion of the TGF-β signaling media...

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a potent angiogenic and antifibrotic factor. Cardioprotective effects of HGF for idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy were examined in hamsters with electroporation of plasmid DNA into skeletal muscle. We used hamster skeletal muscle as a protein producer of HGF gene. A plasmid vector encoding HGF (HGF group, n=12) or empty plasmid (placebo group, n=12) was transf...

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) plays a role in cell protection, antiapoptosis, antifibrosis, and angiogenesis. However, the role of HGF in the immune system is not well defined. We examined the influence of HGF on T cells and the effects of HGF therapy in acute myocarditis. Lewis rats were immunized on day 0 with cardiac myosin to establish experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM). Human HGF g...

Increased levels of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in injured lungs may reflect a compensatory response to diminish acute lung injury (ALI). HGF-induced activation of Rac1 GTPase stimulates endothelial barrier protective mechanisms. This study tested the involvement of Rac-specific guanine nucleotide exchange factor Asef in HGF-induced endothelial cell (EC) cytoskeletal dynamics and barrier pro...

A novel recombinant interleukin-7/hepatocyte growth factor chain (IL-7/HGF ) hybrid cytokine was constructed as a single chain (sc) composed of IL-7 and HGF connected by a flexible linker. Unlike recombinant (r) IL-7, which stimulated pro-B cells and pre-B cells only, scIL-7/HGF stimulated the proliferation of pre–pro-B cells, common lymphoid progenitors (CLPs), and colony-forming unit (CFU)–S1...

INTRODUCTION To evaluate the impact of the pro-inflammatory cytokine hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) on the regulation of glucose and lipid placental metabolism. METHODS HGF levels were quantified in amniotic fluid and placenta from control and obese women. 2-deoxy-glucose (2-DOG) uptake, glycolysis, fatty acid oxidation (FAO), fatty acid esterification, de novo fatty acid synthesis, triglycer...

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) plays an important role in many biological events such as angiogenesis, cell proliferation, anti-fibrosis and antiapoptosis. It is well known that HGF promotes tumor progression and suppresses development of fibrosis after tissue injury. In contrast, its role in immune-mediated disorders has not been fully clarified. In the present study, we examined the role of H...

Although it is established that growth factors and prostaglandins function in the maintenance of gastric mucosal integrity and in the healing of gastric mucosal injury and ulceration, the regulatory relationship between growth factors and prostaglandins in the gastric mucosa is not well characterized. Therefore, we investigated whether hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) affects expression of COX-2 ...

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) modulates intestinal epithelial cell proliferation and migration, serving as a critical regulator of intestinal wound healing. In this study, we examined the effect of administration of recombinant human HGF on colonic mucosal damage in vivo. Acute colitis was induced in rats by feeding with 5% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) for 7 days, and colitis was subsequently ...