To clarify the pathogenesis and histogenesis of PEL by investigating (1) the lymphoma karyotype; (2) the expression status of the Met tyrosine kinase receptor and of its ligand hepatocyte growth factor (HGF); (3) the molecular profile of EBV, with particular focus on mutations of EBNA-1 genes, which are thought to affect viral tumorigenicity in EBV-infected neoplasms displaying the latency I phenotype.
By using a combination of immunological and biological assays, production and secretion of a functional HGF species was identified in all PEL cell lines analyzed.
We recently found that the ribonucleotide reductase (RR) subunit M2 is potentially regulated by the key oncogenic hepatocyte growth factor/c-MET pathway in PEL.