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HGF and Lung Carcinoma: Don't Forget Neutrophils

INSERM, Unit 700, Université Paris 7 et Hôpital Bichat-Claude Bernard, Paris, France

To the Editor:

We read and appreciated the recent paper of Chen and Colleagues (1) about the effect of cigarette smoking on gene expression of HGF and c-met in tumor and nontumor lung tissue. In this study, nicotine was found to activate HGF expression in murine AT II cells and lung carcinoma cell lines. These in vitro results largely support our in vivo data (2). Indeed, we found a significant correlation between HGF protein concentrations and cumulative tobacco exposure in patients with or without lung emphysema. Western blot analysis demonstrated that HGF was present mainly in its cleaved mature form (2). Furthermore, our group has shown that HGF stored in neutrophils could be a significant source of HGF in the lung (3) and could participate in the pathophysiology of bronchoalveolar carcinoma (4), a particular form of lung adenocarcinoma. As neutrophils are increased in the lung of smokers, the role of neutrophils as a source of lung HGF should be taken into account.

Footnotes

Conflict of Interest Statement: None of the authors has a financial relationship with a commercial entity that has an interest in the subject of this manuscript.

References

1. Chen JT, Lin TS, Chow KC, Huang HH, Chiou SH, Chiang SF, Chen HC, Chuang TL, Lin TY, Chen CY. Cigarette smoking induces overexpression of hepatocyte growth factor in type ii pneumocytes and lung cancer cells. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol 2006;34:264–273.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
2. Bonay M, Boutten A, Lecon-Malas V, Marchal J, Soler P, Fournier M, Leseche G, Dehoux M, Crestani B. Hepatocyte and keratinocyte growth factors and their receptors in human lung emphysema. BMC Pulm Med 2005;5:13.[Medline]
3. Grenier A, Chollet-Martin S, Crestani B, Delarche C, El Benna J, Boutten A, Andrieu V, Durand G, Gougerot-Pocidalo MA, Aubier M, et al. Presence of a mobilizable intracellular pool of hepatocyte growth factor inhuman polymorphonuclear neutrophils. Blood 2002;99:2997–3004.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
4. Wislez M, Rabbe N, Marchal J, Milleron B, Crestani B, Mayaud C, Antoine M, Soler P, Cadranel J. Hepatocyte growth factor production by neutrophils infiltrating bronchioloalveolar subtype pulmonary adenocarcinoma: role in tumor progression and death. Cancer Res 2003;63:1405–1412.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

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