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TY - JOUR AU - Uehara, Yoshihiko AU - Minowa, Osamu AU - Mori, Chisato AU - Shiota, Kohei AU - Kuno, Junko AU - Noda, Tetsuo AU - Kitamura, Naomi PY - 1995 DA - 1995/02/01 TI - Placental defect and embryonic lethality in mice lacking hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor JO - Nature SP - 702 EP - 705 VL - 373 IS - 6516 AB - HEPATOCYTE growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) functions as a mitogen, motogen and morphogen for a variety of cultured cells1–7. The genes for HGF/SF and its receptor (the c-met protooncogene product8) are expressed in many tissues during the embryonic periods and in the adult9–14. HGF/SF is thought to mediate a signal exchange between the mesenchyme and epithelia during mouse development15. To examine the physiological role of HGF/SF, we generated mutant mice with a targeted disruption of the HGF/SF gene. Here we report that homozygous mutant embryos have severely impaired placentas with markedly reduced numbers of labyrinthine trophoblast cells, and die before birth. The growth of trophoblast cells was stimulated by HGF/SF in vitro, and the HGF/SF activity was released by allantois in primary culture of normal but not mutant embryos. These findings suggest that HGF/SF is an essential mediator of allantoic mesenchyme-trophoblastic epithelia interaction required for placental organogenesis. SN - 1476-4687 UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/373702a0 DO - 10.1038/373702a0 ID - Uehara1995 ER -