| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
Regular Articles |





From the Research Center for Endocrinology and Metabolism
(RCEM), Department of Internal Medicine,*
and Gothenburg
Musculoskeletal Tumor Center, Department of
Pathology,
Sahlgrenska University Hospital,
Gothenburg; the Department of Cell and Molecular
Biology,
University of Gothenburg,
Gothenburg; and the Department of Clinical
Genetics,§
University Hospital, Lund, Sweden
Enhanced hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) receptor (Met) signaling has been suggested to play an important role in the development and progression of various epithelial and nonepithelial tumors. N-terminally truncated forms of the HGF receptor have been shown to be constitutively activated and tumorigenic in animal experiments. In the present study, 102 benign and malignant human musculoskeletal tumors were examined for expression of the HGF receptor by Western blotting and/or immunohistochemistry. A clear predominance of HGF receptor expression was seen in malignant as compared to benign tumors (Western blotting, P < 0.001; immunohistochemistry, P < 0.02). For the first time we show HGF receptor expression in the following four tumor types: dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, clear cell sarcoma of tendons, malignant primitive neuroectodermal tumor, and benign fibrous histiocytoma. In three cases of sarcoma with high HGF receptor expression by Western blotting, we found indications of a short 85-kd N-terminally truncated HGF receptor that was tyrosine phosphorylated and located in the cytoplasm. Although fragments of this length were seen in 18 of 65 tumors, most were not tyrosine-phosphorylated. Northern blotting revealed only the 7.5-kb full-length HGF receptor transcript, suggesting that the 85-kd fragment is generated by an alternative initiation of translation or by proteolytic cleavage. Southern blotting detected no amplification of the Hgfr/Met gene in the 35 tumors examined, in contrast to our recent report of Hgfr/Met gene amplification in 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA)-induced rat sarcomas. The present data suggest that the locally aggressive and malignant properties of human mesenchymal tumors maybe related, in part, to high levels of full-length HGF receptors, and in some cases to the occurrence of N-terminally truncated HGF receptors, activated independently of HGF.
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
M. Lerdrup, S. Bruun, M. V. Grandal, K. Roepstorff, M. M. Kristensen, A. M. Hommelgaard, and B. van Deurs Endocytic Down-Regulation of ErbB2 Is Stimulated by Cleavage of Its C-Terminus Mol. Biol. Cell, September 1, 2007; 18(9): 3656 - 3666. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. Hiscox, N. J Jordan, W. Jiang, M. Harper, R. McClelland, C. Smith, and R. I Nicholson Chronic exposure to fulvestrant promotes overexpression of the c-Met receptor in breast cancer cells: implications for tumour-stroma interactions Endocr. Relat. Cancer, December 1, 2006; 13(4): 1085 - 1099. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
N. Riggi, L. Cironi, P. Provero, M.-L. Suva, J.-C. Stehle, K. Baumer, L. Guillou, and I. Stamenkovic Expression of the FUS-CHOP Fusion Protein in Primary Mesenchymal Progenitor Cells Gives Rise to a Model of Myxoid Liposarcoma. Cancer Res., July 15, 2006; 66(14): 7016 - 7023. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
G. Athauda, A. Giubellino, J. A. Coleman, C. Horak, P. S. Steeg, M.-J. Lee, J. Trepel, J. Wimberly, J. Sun, A. Coxon, et al. c-Met Ectodomain Shedding Rate Correlates with Malignant Potential. Clin. Cancer Res., July 15, 2006; 12(14): 4154 - 4162. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. Patane, S. Avnet, N. Coltella, B. Costa, S. Sponza, M. Olivero, E. Vigna, L. Naldini, N. Baldini, R. Ferracini, et al. MET Overexpression Turns Human Primary Osteoblasts into Osteosarcomas. Cancer Res., May 1, 2006; 66(9): 4750 - 4757. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
D. S. Krause and R. A. Van Etten Tyrosine Kinases as Targets for Cancer Therapy N. Engl. J. Med., July 14, 2005; 353(2): 172 - 187. [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
Z. Lou, S. O'Reilly, H. Liang, V. M. Maher, S. D. Sleight, and J. J. McCormick Down-Regulation of Overexpressed Sp1 Protein in Human Fibrosarcoma Cell Lines Inhibits Tumor Formation Cancer Res., February 1, 2005; 65(3): 1007 - 1017. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
L. Liu, X.-Z. Yu, T.-S. Li, L.-X. Song, P.-L. Chen, T.-L. Suo, Y.-H. Li, S.-D. Wang, Y. Chen, Y.-M. Ren, et al. A Novel Protein Tyrosine Kinase NOK that Shares Homology with Platelet- Derived Growth Factor/Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptors Induces Tumorigenesis and Metastasis in Nude Mice Cancer Res., May 15, 2004; 64(10): 3491 - 3499. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
M. P. Paronetto, D. Farini, I. Sammarco, G. Maturo, G. Vespasiani, R. Geremia, P. Rossi, and C. Sette Expression of a Truncated Form of the c-Kit Tyrosine Kinase Receptor and Activation of Src Kinase in Human Prostatic Cancer Am. J. Pathol., April 1, 2004; 164(4): 1243 - 1251. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
J. Y. Kang, M. Dolled-Filhart, I. T. Ocal, B. Singh, C.-Y. Lin, R. B. Dickson, D. L. Rimm, and R. L. Camp Tissue Microarray Analysis of Hepatocyte Growth Factor/Met Pathway Components Reveals a Role for Met, Matriptase, and Hepatocyte Growth Factor Activator Inhibitor 1 in the Progression of Node-negative Breast Cancer Cancer Res., March 1, 2003; 63(5): 1101 - 1105. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
N. Chattopadhyay, R. J. MacLeod, J. Tfelt-Hansen, and E. M. Brown 1alpha ,25(OH)2-vitamin D3 inhibits HGF synthesis and secretion from MG-63 human osteosarcoma cells Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, January 1, 2003; 284(1): E219 - E227. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
P. L. Peghini, M. Iwamoto, M. Raffeld, Y.-J. Chen, S. U. Goebel, J. Serrano, and R. T. Jensen Overexpression of Epidermal Growth Factor and Hepatocyte Growth Factor Receptors in a Proportion of Gastrinomas Correlates with Aggressive Growth and Lower Curability Clin. Cancer Res., July 1, 2002; 8(7): 2273 - 2285. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. Walentinsson, K. Helou, V. Wallenius, H. J. Hedrich, C. Szpirer, and G. Levan Independent Amplification of Two Gene Clusters on Chromosome 4 in Rat Endometrial Cancer: Identification and Molecular Characterization Cancer Res., November 1, 2001; 61(22): 8263 - 8273. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |