HGF/SF in mammary epithelial growth and morphogenesis: In vitro and in vivo models

HGF/SF is a multifunctional cytokine which through binding to its cellular receptor, c-MET, can elicit mitogenic, morphogenic acid motogenic responses in target cells. Expression of HGF/SF and c-MET has been shown to be: crit ical in early embryogenesis affecting development of many organs and tissue s. The effects of HGF/SF4 on established human and mouse mammary cell lines have previously been reported. This review describes the source and target s for HGF/ SF in both human and mouse mammary tissue and discusses the effe cts of HGF/SF on primary mouse and human mammary epithelial cells in vitro, detailing the individual response of the two epithelial sub-population of cells which comprise this organ. Additionally, the effects of HGF/SF overex pression on mouse mammary gland development in vivo, are summarized.