Anti-Hepatocyte Growth Factor polyclonal antibody

Background Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in synovial fluid increase after traumatic meniscus injuries. However, MSC kinetics in synovial fluid may differ for knees with degenerative meniscus injuries. Furthermore, the combination of surgical repair and synovial MSC transplantation has been found to improve clinical symptoms in patients with degenerative meniscus injury, and in this treatment, only the operation procedure without MSC transplantation might increase MSCs in synovial fluid; if so, soluble factors in synovial fluid will be involved. The purpose is this study was to examine whether MSCs exist in synovial fluid of knees with degenerative meniscus injury, to investigate whether MSCs in synovial fluid increase after harvest of synovium and meniscus repair, and to explore what soluble factors in synovial fluids affect the number of MSCs in synovial fluid. Methods Subjects were 7 patients with degenerative meniscus injury who underwent meniscal repair and synovial MSC transplantation. Synovial fluid (Pre) was aspirated from knees before harvest of synovium and meniscus repair. After 2 weeks, synovial fluid (Post) was aspirated again before transplantation of synovial MSCs. A half volume of the synovial fluid was plated and cultured for 2 weeks to count the colony formation. The other half was used for antibody array analysis, and the correlation coefficients between the signal intensity and colony number were measured in 503 factors. Factors with high correlation coefficients were verified by migration assay. Results While cell colonies derived from synovial fluid (Pre) were hardly observed, greater numbers of colonies from synovial fluid (Post) were demonstrated. Of the 503 factors, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) had high correlation coefficients between colony number and expression level. Both CGRP and HGF promoted migration of synovial fluid MSCs. Conclusions MSCs in synovial fluid were hardly seen in knees with degenerated meniscus injury. They significantly increased 2 weeks after harvest of synovium and meniscus repair. Both CGRP and HGF in synovial fluid can possibly induce MSCs from synovium into synovial fluid.

We explored the feasibility of treating liver fibrosis with human Hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF) carried by biotinylated ultrasound microbubbles plus biotinlated cationic nano-liposome composites (Bio-MB+Bio-CNLP) in bile duct-ligated (BDL) rats. In addition, we investigated the staging of hepatic fibrosis by using Perfusion-Weighted Imaging (PWI). We established a BDL rat model of hepatic fibrosis. HGF carrier was administered through tail-vein injections. The gene therapy efficacy was evaluated in vivo. Before and after treatment the rats were examined with MR-PWI. The perfusion parameters of PWl were compared with the fibrosis stage. The total fibrous tissue in the liver of rats treated with HGF was lower than that in control group. The time-signal intensity curve (TIC) peak of liver parenchyma of rats with hepatic fibrosis was characterized by a slow wash-in -out. A correlation was found between the perfusion parameters and the stage of fibrosis. As the stage of fibrosis increased, the wash-in and -out rates decreased progressively. The use of Bio-MB+Bio-CNLP is an effective and novel vector for gene delivery in vivo. Further, we confirm that HGF represents a valid liver anti-fibrotic molecule. PWI might be an effective method for quantifying the severity of liver fibrosis.