Expression of hepatocyte growth factor in primary sensory neurons of adult rats

We examined the expression of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) mRNA and its receptor, c-met mRNA, in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and spinal cord of naive adult rats using in situ hybridization histochemistry (ISHH) and the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique. HGF mRNA was expressed in 25.0% of DRG neurons and 80.5% of HGF mRNA-positive neurons expressed trk-A mRNA. In the lumbar spinal cord, c-met mRNA signals were observed in the superficial layer of dorsal horn. These results suggest that the HGF/cMet system may be involved in sensory transmission. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.