Alternative Proteolytic Processing of Hepatocyte Growth Factor during Wound Repair

Wound heating is a crucial regenerative process in all organisms. We examined expression, integrity, and function of the proteins in the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)/c-Met signaling pathway in normally healing and non-healing human skin wounds. Whereas in normally healing wounds phosphorylation of c-Met was most prominent in keratinocytes; and dermal cells, in non-heating wounds phosphorylation of c-Met was barely detectable, suggesting reduced c-Met activation. In wound exudates obtained from non-healing, but not from heating wounds, HGF protein was a target of substantial proteolytic processing that was different from the classical activation by known serine proteases. Western blot analysis and protease inhibitor studies revealed that HGF is a target of neutrophil clastase and plasma kallikrein during skin repair. Proteolytic processing of HGF by each of these proteases significantly attenuated keratinocyte proliferation, wound closure capacity in vitro, and c-Met signal transduction. Our findings reveal a novel pathway of HGF processing during skin repair. Conditions in which proteases are imbalanced and tend toward increased proteolytic activity, as in chronic non-heating wounds, might therefore compromise HGF activity due to the inactivation of the HGF protein and/or the generation of HGF fragments that ultimately mediate a dominant negative effect and limit c-Met activation. (Am J Pathol 2009, 174:2116-2128, DOI:10.2353/ajpath.2009.080597)