Mesenchymal-epithelial interactions are important for many biological processes in
epithelial organs such as the kidney. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a mesenchymally
derived polypeptide cytokine that acts through its tyrosine kinase c-met receptor and is an
important mediator of these interactions. This article reviews data showing the in vitro
actions of HGF on renal epithelial cells that result in such diverse responses as mitogenesis,
motogenesis, and morphogenesis. It also examines the in vivo evidence linking HGF and …