We provide evidence that (a) uncleavable SF inhibits both protease-mediated pro-SF conversion and active SF-induced Met activation; (b) local expression of uncleavable SF in tumors suppresses tumor growth, impairs tumor angiogenesis, and prevents metastatic dissemination; and (c) systemic expression of uncleavable SF dramatically inhibits the growth of transplanted tumors and abolishes the formation of spontaneous metastases without perturbing vital physiological functions.
Inappropriate expression of the receptor tyrosine kinase Met and its ligand hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)/scatter factor (SF) is usually associated with an aggressive solid tumor phenotype (angiogenesis, invasiveness, and metastasis) and poor clinical prognosis.
These results suggest that E1AF activates the Rho/ROCK pathway in an HGF-enhanced manner and its activation is important in E1AF-induced motility and invasion as well as tumorigenesis and metastasis in NSCLC cells.
HGF x CDK4(R24C) mice rapidly develop multiple invasive melanomas in the skin following neonatal carcinogen treatment, which spontaneously metastasize to lymph nodes and lungs.
These findings suggest that approximately half of all human glioblastomas respond to hypoxia with an induction of c-Met, which can enhance the stimulating effect of SF/HGF on tumor cell migration.
The MET proto-oncogene, encoding the tyrosine kinase receptor for hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), senses unfavorable micro-environmental conditions and drives cell invasion and metastasis.
Based on the background that hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and Met/HGF receptor tyrosine kinase play a definite role in tumor invasion and metastasis, NK4 was isolated as a competitive antagonist against functional association between HGF and Met.
The MET receptor and its ligand HGF (hepatocyte growth factor) play important roles in cell growth, survival and migration, and dysregulation of the HGF-MET pathway leads to oncogenic changes including tumor proliferation, angiogenesis and metastasis.
Combination of AAV-HGFK1 and Ad-p53 significantly prolonged the survival of the mice and also significantly inhibited primary and secondary tumor growth.
It has been reported that tetraspanin CD151 acts as a promoter of metastasis in several tumors and plays an important role in c-Met/hepatocyte growth factor signaling.
Angiogenesis plays an essential role in tumor growth and metastasis and is a promising target for cancer therapy. c-Met, a receptor tyrosine kinase, and its ligand, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), are critical in cellular proliferation, motility, invasion, and angiogenesis.
Recently, the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and its receptor, the tyrosine kinase Met, have emerged as key components of human medulloblastoma growth and metastasis, suggesting that inhibition of this pathway may represent an attractive target for the prevention and treatment of this disease.
MACC1 acts as a key regulator of the metastasis-inducing HGF/Met pathway, predicts the risk for metastasis in early cancer stages, and represents a novel target to attack metastasis.
Elevated levels of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) render the liver more susceptible to metastasis by triggering urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) expression as well as hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) signalling, thereby leading to the fatal scattered infiltration of metastasizing tumour cells throughout the parenchyma of the target organ.