The neurotrophic hepatocyte growth factor induces protolerogenic human dendritic cells.

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) limits mouse autoimmune neuroinflammation by promoting the development of tolerogenic dendritic cells (DCs). Given the role played by DCs in the establishment of immunological tolerance, agents that coerce DCs to adopt a protolerogenic function are currently under investigation for multiple sclerosis (MS) therapy. Here, we studied the immunomodulatory effects of HGF on DCs derived from human monocytes. DCs differentiated in the presence of HGF adopt a protolerogenic phenotype with increased ability to generate regulatory T cells, a property that might be exploited therapeutically in T cell-mediated immune disorders such as MS.