The Hepatocyte Growth Factor Receptor: Structure, Function and Pharmacological Targeting in Cancer.

ABSTRACT: Under normal conditions, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)-induced activation of its cell surface receptor, the Met tyrosine kinase (TK), is tightly regulated by paracrine ligand delivery, ligand activation at the target cell surface, and ligand activated receptor internalization and degradation. Despite these controls, HGF/Met signaling contributes to oncogenesis and tumor progression in several cancers and promotes aggressive cellular invasiveness that is strongly linked to tumor metastasis. The prevalence of HGF/Met pathway activation in human malignancies has driven rapid growth in cancer drug development programs. Pathway inhibitors can be divided broadly into biologicals and low molecular weight synthetic TK inhibitors; of these, the latter now outnumber all other inhibitor types. We re

SUBMITTER: Cecchi F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4156285 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature