Expression of hepatocyte growth factor in primary sensory neurons of adult rats.
We examined the expression of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) mRNA and its receptor, c-met mRNA, in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and spinal cord of naive adult rats using in situ hybridization histochemistry (ISHH) and the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique. HGF mRNA was expressed in 25.0% of DRG neurons and 80.5% of HGF mRNA-positive neurons expressed trkA mRNA. In the lumbar spinal cord, c-met mRNA signals were observed in the superficial layer of dorsal horn. These results suggest that the HGF/cMet system may be involved in sensory transmission.
Hashimoto
N
N
Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, Hyogo College of Medicine, 1-1 Mukogawa-cho, Nishinomiya, 663-8501, Hyogo, Japan.
Yamanaka
H
H
Fukuoka
T
T
Obata
K
K
Mashimo
T
T
Noguchi
K
K
D000818:Animals; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000166:cytology; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000378:metabolism*; D019859:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020917:Receptor, trkA / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012677:Sensation / Q000502:physiology; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000166:cytology; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology
D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor; D019859:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met; D020917:Receptor, trkA