Hepatocyte growth factor is a pleiotropic factor protecting epithelial cells from apoptosis

Hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF) is a pleiotropic factor, capable of evoking complex biological responses such as mitogenesis, motogenesis and morphogenesis in a variety of epithelial and endothelial cells. Nonetheless, the meaning of the acronym is consistent with the key role of the factor in liver regeneration, in vivo and in liver development during embryogenesis. The receptor for HGF is the tyrosine kinase encoded by the c-MET proto-oncogene. Upon ligand binding, the receptor kinase is activated by tyrosine autophosphorylation and recruits cytoplasmic transducers involved in HGF-triggered signal transduction. We investigated the role of HGF as a survival factor in protecting cells from apoptosis and we show that HGF is able to counteract staurosporin-induced apoptosis of epithelial cells.