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Updated: Oct 13, 2026
Generation of a Humanized Mouse Liver Using Human Hepatic Stem Cells
Published on: August 29, 2016
Stimulation of asialoglycoprotein uptake by recombinant human hepatocyte growth factor in normal and damaged rat
K Kouda1, S K Ha-Kawa, Y Tanaka
1Dept. of Radiology, Kansai Medical University, Osaka, Japan.
Background:
Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a strong mitogen of hepatocytes. However, little is known about the effect of HGF on the asialoglycoprotein receptors (ASGPR) of hepatocytes. The aim of this study was to identify alterations in binding of ligand to ASGPR by recombinant human HGF (rhHGF) infusion.
Methods:
RhHGF was administered to rats with either normal or dimethylnitrosamine (DMN)-damaged livers. Technetium-99m-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid-galactosyl-human serum albumin (GSA) blood clearance was used to measure ASGPR activity.
Results:
In normal and damaged rats, liver weight, hepatocyte nuclear size, and number of hepatocytes (cells/mm2) were not altered by rhHGF, but GSA blood clearance after rhHGF infusion was significantly increased over the preinfusion rate.
Conclusions:
Independent of proliferation of hepatocytes, rhHGF stimulates a hepatocytic function of the receptor-mediated uptake of ASGP.
