Genetic Ablation of the MET Oncogene Defines a Crucial Role of the HGF/MET Axis in Cell-Autonomous Functions Driving Tumor Dissemination.

ABSTRACT: Cancer cell dissemination is sustained by cell-autonomous and non-cell-autonomous functions. To disentangle the role of HGF (Hepatocyte Growth Factor) and MET ligand/receptor axis in this complex process, we genetically knocked out the MET gene in cancer cells in which MET is not the oncogenic driver. In this way, we evaluated the contribution of the HGF/MET axis to cancer cell dissemination independently of its direct activities in cells of the tumor microenvironment. The lack of MET expression in MET^-/- cells has been proved by molecular characterization. From a functional point of view, HGF stimulation of MET^-/- cancer cells was ineffective in eliciting intracellular signaling and in sustaining biological functions predictive of malignancy in vitro (i.e., anchorage

SUBMITTER: Modica C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10216813 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature