Nephrology Research
- Regulation and Function of the Hepatocyte Growth
Factor Receptor Gene in Renal Epithelial Cells
Principal investigator: Youhua Liu, PhD
 Hepatocyte
growth factor (HGF), via its c-met receptor, is an important regulator
of kidney development, growth and function and plays a central role
in the repair of renal epithelia after injury. Induction of c-met
expression is believed to be crucial to renal regeneration, not
only because it leads to increased overall activity of this receptor-ligand
system, but also possibly because it targets HGF action specifically
to renal epithelia.
Studies in our laboratory are currently focused on understanding
the molecular mechanism(s) underlying c-met expression in renal
epithelial cells. These studies are involved in identifying the
cis-acting sequences critical for c-met constitutive and inducible
expression, and characterizing their cognate trans-acting regulatory
factors.
Using a unique autocrine HGF/c-met cell line recently established
in our laboratory, we are also investigating the effects of HGF/c-met
signaling system on renal epithelial cell survival, proliferation,
repair and differentiation following injury. These studies promise
to provide important insights into the transcriptional regulation
of c-met expression and its function in renal epithelial cells in
both physiologic and pathophysiologic settings.
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