Hepatocyte growth factor stimulates growth of hematopoietic progenitor cells.

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), a mesenchymal-derived polypeptide, stimulates growth, motility and morphogenesis of various types of cells, most predominantly of epithelial cells. We have now identified an additional biological activity of HGF; this factor probably has a role in early hematopoiesis. We examined the effects of HGF on the growth of various murine hematopoietic progenitor tumor cell lines and found that HGF stimulated DNA synthesis in the myeloid leukemia cell line, NFS-60. The mitogenic effect of HGF on NFS-60 cells was additive with the effect of interleukin 3 (IL-3). On the other hand, HGF had no apparent effect on other myeloid leukemia cell lines examined, such as DA-3 and FDC-P1 cells. Scatchard analysis of specific binding of [125I]HGF revealed expression of a high-affinity HGF receptor on NFS-60 and DA-3 cells, but not on FDC-P1 cells. Expression of c-met mRNA correlated well with the existence of a high-affinity HGF receptor. Since the myeloid leukemia cell lines used are cells in the early stage of myeloid differentiation, HGF may play a role in early hematopoiesis.