Hepatocyte growth factor is a paracrine regulator of rat prostate epithelial growth

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a mesenchymal-derived growth factor which predominantly targets various epithelial and endothelial cells. We here investigated the biological function of HGF in rat dorsolateral prostatic tissue. HGF stimulated proliferation and DNA synthesis of prostatic epithelial cells in primary culture. c-Met/HGF receptor mRNA was specifically expressed in isolated epithelial cells. An immunohistochemical study revealed that HGF is located in prostatic stromal cells. When stromal cells were isolated and cultured, they produced significant amounts of HGF, which was further stimulated by prostaglandin E2, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, and dibutyryl cyclic AMP, but not by testosterone. These results indicate that HGF is a stromal-derived potent mitogen for dorsolateral prostatic epithelial cells which may function as a paracrine regulator for growth of the prostatic glands.