| First Author | Zhang YW | Year | 2005 |
| Journal | Oncogene | Volume | 24 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 101-6 |
| PubMed ID | 15531925 | Mgi Jnum | J:239806 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5829738 | Doi | 10.1038/sj.onc.1208181 |
| Citation | Zhang YW, et al. (2005) Enhanced growth of human met-expressing xenografts in a new strain of immunocompromised mice transgenic for human hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor. Oncogene 24(1):101-6 |
| abstractText | Downstream signaling that results from the interaction of hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) with the receptor tyrosine kinase Met plays critical roles in tumor development, progression, and metastasis. This ligand-receptor pair is an attractive target for new diagnostic and therapeutic agents, preclinical development of which requires suitable animal models. The growth of heterotopic and orthotopic Met-expressing human tumor xenografts in conventional strains of immunocompromised mice inadequately replicates the paracrine stimulation by human HGF/SF (hHGF/SF) that occurs in humans with cancer. We have therefore generated a mouse strain transgenic for hHGF/SF (designated hHGF-Tg) on a severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) background. We report here that the presence of ectopically expressed hHGF/SF ligand significantly enhances growth of heterotopic subcutaneous xenografts derived from human Met-expressing cancer cells, including the lines SK-LMS-1 (human leiomyosarcoma), U118 (human glioblastoma), and DU145 (human prostate carcinoma), but not that of M14-Mel xenografts (human melanoma that expresses insignificant levels of Met). Our results indicate that ectopic hHGF/SF can specifically activate Met in human tumor xenografts. This new hHGF-Tg strain of mice should provide a powerful tool for evaluating drugs and diagnostic agents that target the various pathways influenced by Met activity. |
