Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) is a recently charact
erised molecule with many remarkable functions. Its involvement in imp
ortant processes such as cell proliferation, cell migration, morphogen
esis and organ development implies that its activity should be tightly
regulated. To understand the molecular mechanisms controlling HGF/SF
transcription, we have analysed DNaseI hypersensitive sites (DHS) alon
g rat and human HGF/SF genes in various tissues and cell types. We ide
ntified five DHS along the rat gene, two in the 5'-flanking region and
three in the first intron. These sites are only found in rat tissues
and rat cell lines, which express HGF/SF. The strongest hypersensitive
site maps to a region that corresponds to the promoter by start site
analysis. A single tissue-specific DHS is present in human cell lines
that express HGF/SF and corresponds to the promoter region. Our result
s suggest that chromatin accessibility plays a major role in the regul
ation of HGF/SF transcription regulation. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.
V. All rights reserved.