More About c-MET
c-Met (METor MNNG HOS Transforming gene) is a proto-oncogene that encodes a protein known as hepatocyte growth factor receptor (HGFR; RTK class X, HGF receptor family). It was originally identified as an oncogene activated in vitro after treatment of a human osteogenic sarcoma (HOS) cell line[1]. Currently, c-Met receives great interest for its role of aberrant signaling in tumorigenesis, particularly in the development of the invasive and metastatic phenotypes (see also Axon 2240). Signaling via the Met–HGF/SF pathway has been shown to lead to a wide range of biological activities including proliferation (mitosis), scattering (motility), and branching morphogenesis, embryological development, wound healing, tissue regeneration, angiogenesis, growth, invasion, and morphogenic differentiation[2].
[1] Molecular cloning of a new transforming gene from a chemically transformed human cell line. C.S. Cooper, M. Park, D.G. Blair et al. Nature 1984, 311, 29–33.
[2] M. Jeffers, L. Schmidt, N. Nakaigawa, et al. Activating mutations for the met tyrosine kinase receptor in human cancer. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 1997, 94, 11445–11450.