Macrophage Stimulating Protein (MSP)

MST1 cDNA from a human liver cDNA library. The deduced protein contains 4 kringle domains followed by a serine protease domain. Because this domain structure was identical to that found in hepatic growth factor (HGF), Han et al. proposed that the protein be called  HGFL. The 2 proteins share about 50% sequence identity.To assess the in vivo effects of total loss of HGFL, Bezerra et al. generated mice with targeted disruption of the gene resulting in loss of the protein. Embryogenesis proceeded normally and followed a mendelian pattern of genetic transmission. Mice homozygous for the targeted allele, Hgfl -/- mice, were fertile and grew to adulthood without obvious phenotypic abnormalities in unchallenged animals, except for development of lipid-containing cytoplasmic vacuoles in hepatocytes throughout the liver lobules.