Roles of hepatocyte growth factor in obesity and diabetes

肝细胞生长因子（HGF）通过上调多种细胞中前列腺素（PG）E2的产生（HGF-PGE 2轴）发挥其生物学作用。所以我研究了PGE 2对不同类型细胞的影响。我阐明了PGE 2通过抑制蛋白质翻译抑制肺成纤维细胞和巨噬细胞中的整体蛋白质合成。此外，我还发现PGE 2通过抑制T细胞功能来抑制过敏性气道炎症。现在公认巨噬细胞和T细胞在II型糖尿病的发展中起致病作用。此外，肥胖被认为是发生哮喘和肺纤维化恶化的重要危险因素。我的上述研究结果表明，HGF-PGE 2轴不仅抑制肥胖个体糖尿病的发展，而且抑制肥胖相关的肺部疾病。

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) exhibits its biological action via up-regulation of prostaglandin (PG) E2 production in many types of cells (HGF-PGE2 axis). So I examined the effect of PGE2 on different types of cells. I clarified that PGE2 inhibits global protein synthesis in lung fibroblasts and macrophages via suppression of protein translation. Moreover, I also found that PGE2 suppresses allergic airway inflammation via inhibition of T cell functions. It is now well accepted that macrophages and T cells play pathogenetic roles in the development of type II diabetes. Moreover, obesity is recognized as an important risk factor for development of asthma and exacerbation of pulmonary fibrosis. My findings described above suggest that HGF-PGE2 axis suppresses not only the development of diabetes in obese individuals but also obese-related pulmonary diseases.