Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) regulates several functions in adult and developing lung epithelia; it causes proliferation, stimulates secretion of fluid and electrolytes, enhances repair, and may minimize injury. To gain insight into the molecular processes influenced by KGF, we applied KGF to primary cultures of well-differentiated human airway epithelia and used microarray hybridization to...

Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) is involved in the development and regeneration of a variety of tissues. To clarify the role of KGF in cartilage wound healing, we examined the expression of KGF and its receptor (KGFR) immunohistochemically in the wound healing area of rat tracheal cartilage, and the direct effect of recombinant KGF on the proliferation and differentiation of primary cultures o...

Proliferation and differentiation of mammary epithelia are regulated by the combined action of systemic hormones and locally derived paracrine growth factors. Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) is a potential candidate stromal factor that may participate in the hormonal control of stromal/epithelial interactions. In this study, we have examined the in vivo effect of 17beta-estradiol (E) treatment...

Oxidant-induced injury to the lung is associated with extensive damage to the lung epithelium. Instillation of keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) in the lungs of animals protects animals from oxidant-induced injury but the mechanism of protection is not well understood. An inherent problem in studying KGF function in vivo has been that constitutive overexpression of KGF in the lung causes embryon...

BACKGROUND Coeliac disease is characterised by increased epithelial renewal associated with a mucosal T cell response to gliadin. Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) is produced by cytokine activated gut stromal cells and may be a link between mucosal T cell activation in untreated coeliac disease and epithelial hyperplasia. AIMS To characterise expression of KGF in coeliac disease. METHODS KG...

Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) is a newly identified member of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family (FGF-7). KGF is expressed by stromal fibroblasts and acts on epithelial cells in a paracrine mode. To facilitate structure/function studies, we utilized the T7 prokaryotic expression system to synthesize this growth factor. Recombinant KGF (rKGF) was mitogenic with a specific activity arou...

BACKGROUND Both estrogen receptor-alpha (ER-alpha) and progesterone receptor (PR) are good prognostic factors and indicators of benefit from endocrine therapy in breast cancer patients. The relationship of the ER-alpha and PR status and the difference in clinical benefit from endocrine therapy in breast cancer is currently unclear. It has been suggested that keratinocyte growth factors (KGFs) a...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) plays a critical role in prevention of cirrhosis and enhancement of liver regeneration. However, the molecular regulation of KGF in liver is unknown. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) control the pathogenesis of cirrhosis, whereas the exact involved miRNAs and molecular signaling pathways remain ill-defined. Here we addressed these questions. METHODS We exami...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to determine whether messenger RNA coding for hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), HGF receptor (MET), keratinocyte growth factor (KGF), KGF receptor, and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptor-2 were produced in primary cultures of human corneal epithelial, stromal fibroblast, and endothelial cells, as well as ex vivo corneal epithelium, endothelial cells tran...