Koushi Oh, Yuji Iimuro, Masaharu Takeuchi, Yasufumi Kaneda, Tsuyoshi Iwasaki, Nobuyuki Terada, Takayuki Matsumoto, Kenji Nakanishi, Jiro Fujimoto
Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), a multifunctional cytokine, accelerates intestinal epithelial proliferation. We studied the effects of HGF in mice with trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-induced colitis, which shows clinical and molecular resemblance to Crohn's disease. Mice with colitis repeatedly were transfected intramuscularly with human HGF cDNA. Weight, survival, histopathology, proinflammatory cytokine mRNAs, and leukocyte infiltration were assessed. Treatment with HGF cDNA induced tyrosine phosphorylation of intestinal c-Met/HGF receptors, inhibited apoptosis, and promoted mitosis in intestinal epithelial cells, accelerating intestinal epithelial restoration and suppressing inflammation...
April 2005: American Journal of Physiology. Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology