Increased hepatocyte growth factor production by aging human fibroblasts mainly due to autocrine stimulation by interleukin-1.

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), also known as scatter factor is a pleiotropic factor that is mainly produced by mesenchymal cells and acts on cells of epithelial origin which express the HGF receptor c-Met. Here we demonstrate that production of HGF by human embryonic lung fibroblasts increased sharply after about 70% completion of their lifespan in culture, which is regulated at the transcriptional level. In addition, human skin fibroblasts from old donors, over 80 years, also produced more HGF than cells from young and middle-aged donors. The increased production of HGF by aging fibroblasts from human embryonic lung tissue is mainly due to autocrine stimulation by interleukin-1.