Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound   Target Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound

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Query: EC:3.4.21.73 (urokinase-type plasminogen activator)
10,685 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) is a heparin-binding polypeptide which shares structural domains with enzymes of the blood clotting cascade. HGF/SF is secreted by cells of mesodermal origin and has powerful mitogenic, motogenic and morphogenic activity on epithelial and endothelial cells. HGF/SF is produced as a biologically inactive single-chain precursor (pro-HGF/SF) most of which is sequestered on the cell surface or bound to the extracellular matrix. Maturation into the active alpha beta heterodimer results from proteolytic cleavage by a urokinase-type protease, which acts as a pro-HGF/SF convertase. The primary determinant for receptor binding appears to be located within the alpha-chain. The interaction of the alpha-chain with the receptor is sufficient for the activation of the signal cascade involved in the motility response. However, the complete HGF/SF protein seems to be required to elicit a mitogenic response. HGF/SF binds with high affinity to a transmembrane receptor, p190MET, encoded by the MET proto-oncogene. p190MET is the prototype of a distinct subfamily of heterodimeric tyrosine kinases, including the putative receptors Ron and Sea. The mature form of p190MET is a heterodimer of two disulfide-linked subunits (alpha and beta). The alpha-subunit is extracellular and heavily glycosylated. The beta-subunit consists of an extracellular portion involved in ligand binding, a membrane spanning segment, and a cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase domain. Both subunits derive from glycosylation and proteolytic cleavage of a common precursor of 170 kDa. In polarized epithelial cells the HGF/SF receptor is selectively exposed in the basolateral plasmalemma, where it is associated with detergent-insoluble components. Two Met isoforms, carrying an intact ligand binding domain but lacking the kinase domain due to truncation of the beta-subunit, arise from alternative post-transcriptional processing of the mature form. One truncated form is soluble and released from the cells. HGF/SF binding triggers tyrosine autophosphorylation of the receptor beta-subunit. Autophosphorylation on the major phosphorylation site Y1235 upregulates the kinase activity of the receptor, increasing the Vmax of the phosphotransfer reaction. Negative regulation of the kinase activity occurs through phosphorylation of a unique serine residue (S985) located in the juxtamembrane domain of the receptor. This phosphorylation is triggered by two distinct pathways involving either protein kinase C activation or increase in intracellular Ca2+ concentration. Upon ligand binding, the HGF/SF receptor recruits and activates several cytoplasmic effectors, including phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-K), phospholipase C-gamma (PLC-gamma), pp60c-Src, a tyrosine phosphatase, and a Ras-guanine nucleotide exchanger.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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PMID:Identification of functional domains in the hepatocyte growth factor and its receptor by molecular engineering. 776 52

HGF is secreted by mesenchymal cells and regulates motogenesis, mitogenesis, and morphogenesis of epithelial and endothelial cells. HGF is a heterodimer of two glycosylated chains, alpha and beta, bound together by a disulfide bond. The molecule is synthesized as single chain precursor devoid of biological activity (pro-HGF). The critical step in pro-HGF activation is a proteolytic cleavage generating the two chain form. This step occurs in the extracellular environment, and is catalyzed by urokinase. Two alternative transcripts originate two HGF variants. One bears a deletion of five amino acids in the alpha chain, and has the same properties of the full-size protein. The other one contains only the first portion of the alpha chain (two kringle HGF). Two kringle HGF binds the HGF receptor, triggers its tyrosine kinase activity and behaves as a partial agonist, inducing motogenesis but not mitogenesis in target cells. The HGF receptor is the tyrosine kinase encoded by the c-MET pro-oncogene, a tyrosine kinase receptor. This molecule is an heterodimer of an extracellular alpha chain disulfide linked to a transmembrane beta chain. The cytoplasmic portion of the beta chain contains the catalytic domain and critical sites for the regulation of its kinase activity. In the C-terminal tail, a bidentate motif containing two tyrosines associates the transducers responsible for HGF signalling.
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PMID:Hepatocyte growth factor and its receptor, the tyrosine kinase encoded by the c-MET proto-oncogene. 798 17

Scatter factor (SF), also known as hepatocyte growth factor, is angiogenic in systemic tissue, and SF titers correlate with the malignancy and metastatic phenotype of certain systemic cancers. Human gliomas express SF and its receptor c-met, but their role in the malignant progression of these tumors has not been defined. To examine this, 9L glioma cells that express c-met but not SF were transfected with human SF cDNA, and their behavior in vitro and in vivo was examined. SF gene expression was detected in conditioned medium of 9L-SF but not in control 9L-neo-transfected cell lines, by reverse transcriptase-PCR, immunoblot, ELISA, and scatter activity assays. Gliomas derived from 9L-SF and control 9L-neo cell lines implanted in the caudate/putamen of Fisher 344 rats (intracranially) and in the flanks of SCID/Beige mice (subcutaneously) were examined. Extracts from intracranial (i.c.) gliomas contained elevated levels of SF protein as determined by ELISA (1 to 5.5 ng SF/mg protein), whereas no SF was detected in control tumors. Reverse transcriptase-PCR of RNA from i.c. gliomas revealed that only 9L-SF gliomas expressed SF and both 9L-neo and 9L-SF gliomas expressed the c-met SF receptor. By postimplantation Day 14, 9L-SF i.c. gliomas were approximately 5-fold larger than 9L-neo control tumors (p < 0.001). Subcutaneous 9L-SF glioma growth was also greater than that in controls, although the differences were more variable. SF-producing i.c. gliomas contained elevated levels of 48-kd urokinase (3.5-fold) and 92-kd type IV collagenase (2.8-fold), both enzymes that correlate with the malignant progression of human gliomas (p < 0.001). SF-producing and control 9L cell lines did not differ in rates of proliferation, thymidine incorporation, or adhesion-independent growth in vitro. Conditioned medium from 9L-SF cells stimulated thymidine incorporation into microvessel brain endothelial cells 3- to 4-fold higher than did CM from 9L-neo controls (p < 0.001). Intracranial 9L-SF gliomas were more angiogenic than controls based on elevated peak (2.25-fold; p < 0.005) and mean (1.7-fold; p < 0.008) blood vessel densities. These results suggest that SF production by glioma cells enhances glioma malignancy in vivo, in part, by paracrine mechanisms involving glioma-associated angiogenesis.
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PMID:Scatter factor/hepatocyte growth factor gene transfer enhances glioma growth and angiogenesis in vivo. 911 17

Hepatocyte growth factor, also known as scatter factor, is a pleiotropic cytokine, which stimulates cell motility, invasion, proliferation, survival and morphogenesis, and induces the expression of specific genes by activating its receptor tyrosine kinase. In this work we have isolated, characterized and used as agonists two monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) directed against the extracellular domain of HGF receptor to investigate the requirements for receptor activation and for the different biological responses. The two mAbs display similar affinities, react with epitopes different from the hepatocyte growth factor binding site, and behave as either full or partial agonists. The full agonist mAb (DO-24) triggers all the biological effects elicited by hepatocyte growth factor, namely motility, proliferation, cell survival, invasion, tubulogenesis and angiogenesis. The partial agonist mAb (DN-30) induces only motility. Only the full agonist mAb is able to induce and sustain the expression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor for prolonged periods of time, while both mAbs up-regulate the constitutive expression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator. Both mAbs activate receptor phosphorylation, which, being strictly dependent on mAb bivalence, requires receptor dimerization. Since simple receptor dimerization is not sufficient to trigger full biological responses, we propose that the region on the ss chain of the receptor recognized by the full agonist mAb is crucial for optimal receptor activation.
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PMID:Agonistic monoclonal antibodies against the Met receptor dissect the biological responses to HGF. 940 10

Human gallbladder cancer is highly malignant and its prognosis is usually poor depending on the extent of surrounding tissue invasion. We examined in vitro the invasive activity of four gallbladder cancer cell lines (GB-d1, GB-h3, GB-d2 and FU-GBC-1) in the absence or presence of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF). In type 1 collagen gel culture, HGF stimulated cell proliferation and induced an invasive phenotype of arborizing structures in GB-d1, GB-h3 and GB-d2. In a Matrigel invasion assay, invasion was also induced in three of these cell lines by HGF but not in FU-GBC-1. Cellular motility was, however, stimulated by HGF in all of the four cell lines to various extents. Zymography for proteolytic enzymes demonstrated high levels of type IV collagenase and urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA) activity in GB-d1, GB-h3 and GB-d2 even in the absence of HGF. In the presence of HGF, the 72 kDa type IV collagenase (MMP-2) activity of GB-h3 and u-PA activities of GB-d1, GB-h3 and GB-d2 were enhanced. In contrast, the MMPs and PAs activities of FU-GBC-1 were faint irrespective of the addition of HGF. A Western blot analysis demonstrated higher levels of 190 kDa c-MET product (HGF receptor) of GB-d1, GB-h3 and GB-d2 than that of FU-GBC-1. The invasion in the Matrigel assay stimulated by HGF was inhibited by protease inhibitors, aprotinin and FOY-305, as well as by anti-HGF antibody. These results thus suggest that, in addition to the importance of the proteolytic activity, the cellular motility induced via the HGF/HGF-receptor system is essential for the invasive progression of gallbladder carcinoma cells.
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PMID:Hepatocyte growth factor stimulates the invasion of gallbladder carcinoma cell lines in vitro. 950 79

B16 melanoma cells selected in mice for liver-specific metastasis (B16-LS9) overexpress a constitutively active form of the hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor receptor (HGF/SFr), the product of the c-met proto-oncogene. HGF/SF can affect both invasion and growth of receptive cells. In fact, we show that overexpression of c-met in B16-LS9 cells results in a higher inducibility of two different proteolytic activities (uPA and gelatinase), in correlation with a stronger invasive and motility response to HGF/SF treatment. However, HGF/SF treatment inhibits growth of B16 cells, which might appear in contradiction with the observation that c-met overexpression and constitutive activation seems to be required for efficient liver colonization. However, this apparent discrepancy is resolved by the finding that liver-derived, but not lung-derived factor(s), can efficiently rescue B16-LS9 cells from the growth inhibitory effects of HGF/SF, while not changing their motility response. Therefore, overexpression of c-met in B16-LS9 cells might give a specific advantage in liver colonization, because specifically at this site B16-LS9 cells can take full advantage of the positive effects exerted by HGF/SF stimulation on motility and invasion, while the negative effects on growth are counteracted by other paracrine factor(s).
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PMID:Influence of hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor on the metastatic phenotype of B16 melanoma cells. 970 24

Normal as well as neoplastic cells traverse extracellular matrix barriers by mobilizing proteolytic enzymes in response to epidermal growth factor (EGF)-EGF receptor (EGFR) or hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (SF)-c-Met interactions. The plasminogen activator-plasminogen axis has been proposed to play a key role during cell invasion, but the normal development of plasminogen activator- as well as that of plasminogen-deficient mice supports the existence of alternate proteolytic systems that permit cells to traverse extracellular matrix barriers. To characterize the role that matrix-degrading proteinases play in EGF- or SF-stimulated invasion, a human squamous carcinoma cell line (UM-SCC-1) was triggered atop the matrices of type I collagen or human dermal explants in a three-dimensional culture system. During EGF- or SF-induced invasion, UM-SCC-1 cells expressed urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and uPA receptor as well as the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), membrane-type MMP-1, collagenase 1, stromelysin 1, and gelatinase B. Despite the presence of a positive correlation between uPA receptor-uPA expression and growth factor-stimulated invasion, UM-SCC-1 invasion was not affected by inhibitors directed against the plasminogen activator-plasminogen axis. In contrast, both recombinant and synthetic MMP inhibitors completely suppressed invasion by either EGF- or SF-stimulated cells without affecting either proteinase expression or cell motility across collagen-coated surfaces. These data demonstrate that MMPs, but not the plasminogen activator-plasmin system, can directly regulate the ability of either EGF- or SF-stimulated tumor cells to invade interstitial matrix barriers.
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PMID:Role of the plasminogen activator and matrix metalloproteinase systems in epidermal growth factor- and scatter factor-stimulated invasion of carcinoma cells. 982 36

During development of the heart, the endocardium of the developing cushion tissue transforms into mesenchymal cells that rapidly invade the underlying extracellular matrix. This invasive process, along with subsequent proliferation and differentiation of the mesenchyme, are essential for the normal formation of valvular and septal structures. Several factors have been identified that appear to initiate and/or control this transformation process, including the growth factor TGF-beta. In these studies we have investigated whether hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) may also be involved in some aspects of this transformation process. Using an immunohistochemical approach we have detected a spatially restricted localization of HGF/SF to the myocardial cells of the cushion tissue. HGF was detected in extracts of the developing heart, and the presence of the active form correlated with the onset of the transformation process and the elevation of urokinase activity. The endocardial-derived mesenchymal cells of the cushion tissue were found to express the c-met HGF receptor. Isolated endocardial cells responded to the addition of HGF with increases in motility, proliferation, and urokinase production. The results from these studies suggest that HGF may function as a myocardial-derived mediator of the epithelial-mesenchymal transformation by inducing and/or maintaining the mesenchymal cell phenotype. The increase in urokinase expression by the cushion tissue cells, in response to HGF, may facilitate the invasive abilities of these cells and also provide a means of maintaining high levels of active HGF required for the stimulation of cell proliferation and migration.
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PMID:Hepatocyte growth factor expression in the developing myocardium: evidence for a role in the regulation of the mesenchymal cell phenotype and urokinase expression. 991 79

Liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy (PHx) of the liver serves as a model for studying normal growth factor signals that become aberrant in cancer. Growth factor signals that may play a role in initiating the proliferation of hepatocytes after 70% PHx in the rat were investigated immediately after surgical resection of the liver. Presumptive activity was evaluated by determining the tyrosine phosphorylation state of receptors for epidermal growth factor (EGF) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in the liver after PHx and after sham operation as a control. Under these conditions, it was determined that the EGF receptor was constitutively phosphorylated. EGF receptor tyrosine phosphorylation, however, was increased over basal levels by 60 min after resection. The HGF receptor, c-Met, was minimally phosphorylated in control livers, but a biphasic increase in phosphorylation was observed at 1-5 min after PHx and 60 min postsurgery. A slight increase in c-Met phosphorylation was observed in the sham-operated livers, but the signal was significantly less when compared with that in resected livers. Furthermore, 1 min after PHx, but not sham operation, urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA) and u-PA receptor were observed in the immunoprecipitates of c-Met. Signaling downstream of growth factor receptor activation was also examined. There were no discernible phosphorylation changes in focal adhesion kinase during the early events after surgery in PHx; however, a rapid and sustained increase in the tyrosine phosphorylation of paxillin beginning 1 min after PHx, and a gradual increase in the phosphorylation beginning 5 min postsham operation, were observed. Changes in the activated state of the small GTP-binding protein Rho A and its associated proteins were seen but only after 3 h after PHx. The results indicate that HGF-related signal transduction cascades, which contribute to hepatocyte proliferation, are initiated within one min after PHx.
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PMID:Growth factor signal transduction immediately after two-thirds partial hepatectomy in the rat. 1046 91

A new human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell line with a highly metastatic potential was established from subcutaneous xenograft of a metastatic model of human HCC in nude mice (LCI-D20) by means of alternating cell culture in vitro and growth in nude mice. The line, designated MHCC97, has been cultivated for 18 months and subcultured for more than 90 passages. The line was showed to be of human origin by karyotype analysis. The cells were either grown as compact colonies (in clusters) or as a monolayered sheet with about 31 h of population-doubling time, exhibited typical malignant epithelial in morphology and were positive for alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). Flow cytometric analysis of the cell DNA content showed an aneuploid pattern, and its index was 1.5 as compared to that of normal human peripheral blood lymphocytes. Karyotypic analyses of G- and C-banding techniques revealed that all cells presented chromosome abnormalities in number and structure. The number of cell line MHCC97 chromosome ranged from 59 to 65 with a modal number of 60 and 61. At least two common chromosome markers, i(1q) and der(4)t(4;?)(4pter-->q35::?), were present in all cells, and deletion of Y chromosome also occurred in all cells. The subcutaneous and intrahepatic xenografts were formed and metastatic lesions in lungs were found after the cells were inoculated into nude mice. The rate of metastasis to lungs was 100% using orthotopic inoculation. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction products revealed positive expressions of integrin alpha5 and beta1, urokinase type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR), vascular endothelial growth factor and nm23-H1 mRNAs of cell line MHCC97. Immunostaining of c-Met, uPAR showed strongly positive in both subcutaneous xenografts and lung metastatic lesions; while positive in xenografts and negative in metastatic lesions for integrin alpha5, beta1. E-cadherin and P53 was not expressed either in xenograft or in the metastatic lesions. PCR products of HBsAg and HBxAg were both positive. The cell line MHCC97 still retained some characteristic features of original tumour. Establishment of cell line MHCC97 should be beneficial to the studies of HCC metastatic mechanisms.
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PMID:New human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell line with highly metastatic potential (MHCC97) and its expressions of the factors associated with metastasis. 1055 51


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