Prostate cancer (PCa) is a metastatic malignant cancer driven by complex pathological mechanisms and characterized by poor long-term prognosis. Metastasis is the main cause of death of PCa patients, yet the molecular mechanisms of this process are poorly understood. In the present study, positive co-expression of RON and c-Met was observed in human clinical PCa tissues (biopsy material), as det...

Tumor hypoxia is associated with radioresistance, chemoresistance, and metastasis, which eventually lead to cancer progression and a poor patient prognosis. RON [also known as macrophage-stimulating protein receptor (MST1R)] belongs to the c-MET [also known as hepatocyte growth factor receptor (HGFR)] receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) superfamily. To identify the interaction partners of RON nuclea...

Activated growth factor receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK) play pivotal roles in a variety of human cancers, including breast cancer. Ron, a member of the Met RTK proto-oncogene family, is overexpressed or constitutively active in 50% of human breast cancers. To define the significance of Ron overexpression and activation in vivo , we generated transgenic mice that overexpress a wild-type or const...

Neurodegeneration is a critical problem in aging populations and is characterized by severe central nervous system (CNS) inflammation. Macrophages closely regulate inflammation in the CNS and periphery by taking on different activation states. The source of inflammation in many neurodegenerative diseases has been preliminarily linked to a decrease in the CNS M2 macrophage population and a subse...

Overexpression of the RON receptor tyrosine kinase contributes to pathogenesis of epithelial cancers and disruption of RON signals has potential for therapeutic intervention. Here, we report the inhibitory effects of monoclonal antibodies (Zt/g4, Zt/f2 and Zt/c9) on RON expression and tumorigenic activities in colon cancer cells. Persistent treatment of colon SW620 or other cells with Zt/g4 dra...

To determine if people who expect a recall (RCL) test encode a list of to-beremembered (TBR) words differently than those who expect a recognition (RON) test, people were first induced to expect a RCL or a RON test and then were asked to remember a critical list consisting of both high-frequency (HF) and low-frequency (LF) words. Following presentation of the critical list, different groups rec...

Ron is a human receptor for the macrophage-stimulating protein (MSP). Exon 11 skipping of Ron pre-mRNA produces the Ron∆165 protein that has a deletion of a 49 amino acid region in the β-chain extracellular domain. Ron∆165 is constitutively active even in the absence of its ligand. Through stepwise deletion analysis, we identified a 2-nt RNA enhancer, which is located 74 nt upstream from the 5'...

The MSP/RON signaling pathway favors the conversion of micrometastatic lesions to overt metastases by suppressing antitumor immune responses. The loss of RON functions in the host potentiates tumor-specific CD8+ T-cell responses, hence inhibiting the outgrowth of metastatic cancer cells. Thus, RON inhibitors may potentially prevent the outgrowth of micrometastases in cancer patients.

Claudins are integral membrane proteins essential in tight junction formation and function. Altered expression of claudins has been implicated in epithelial malignant transformation. We report here that activation of recepteur d'origine nantais (RON) differentially regulates tight junction function and claudin expression. In Martin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells, macrophage-stimulating protei...