STUDIO DELLE CITOCHINE E DELLE METALLOPROTEASI NELLA LINFANGIOLEIOMIOMATOSI E NELLA SCLEROSI TUBEROSA
Tesi di Dottorato
Data di Pubblicazione:
2014
Citazione:
STUDIO DELLE CITOCHINE E DELLE METALLOPROTEASI NELLA LINFANGIOLEIOMIOMATOSI E NELLA SCLEROSI TUBEROSA / E. Orpianesi ; tutor: A. Gorio ; coordinatore: A. Gorio. Università degli Studi di Milano, 2014 Jan 30. 26. ciclo, Anno Accademico 2013. [10.13130/orpianesi-emanuela_phd2014-01-30].
Abstract:
Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), an autosomal dominant disease, is characterized by the formation of hamartomas in various organs such as brain, kidney, skin, retina and heart, and is caused by mutations in TSC1 e TSC2 tumor suppressor genes, encoding hamartin and tuberin, respectively. Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare lung disease characterized by cystic lung destruction leading to progressive respiratory failure and formation of abdominal tumors. LAM can be sporadic or associated to TSC and LAM lung alterations resulting from proliferation of neoplastic cells bearing mutations in either TSC1 or TSC2 genes. A metastatic process has been proposed in dissemination of LAM and TSC cells to explain the identical TSC2 mutations and loss of heterozigosity (LOH) patterns in LAM cells of lung nodules, angiomyolipomas and lymph nodes of the same sporadic LAM patients, that is consistent with metastatic spread among organs.
The aim of this project is to study the role of cytokines and matrix metalloproteinases in LAM and TSC. LAM/TSC cells, isolated from chylous of a patient affected by LAM associated to TSC, bear a TSC2 germline mutation and do not express tuberin for an epigenetic silencing of the TSC2 second allele that confirms our previously published evidence that an epigenetic alterations of TSC2 can cause the loss of tuberin in TSC cells. Treatment of LAM/TSC cells with 5-azacytidine that inhibits CpG DNA methylation led to the expression of tuberin as consequence of the chromatin remodeling. Proliferation of LAM/TSC cells is epidermal growth factor (EGF)-dependent and blockade of EGF receptor causes cell death, as we previously showed in cells lacking tuberin, while rapamycin, an mTOR inhibitor, significantly reduced proliferation. LAM/TSC cells have the ability to grow independently from adhesion and survive in adherent and nonadherent condition. For these features these cells are a good model to study the mechanisms of motility in LAM and TSC and the relation to tuberin expression. We studied the effect of anti-EGFR Ab and rapamycin on motility, cytokines and MMPs (Matrix metalloproteinases) expression. LAM/TSC cells spontaneously detach and undergo spontaneous cycles of adhesion and nonadhesion conditions likely for the inactivation of the focal adhesion kinase (FAK)/Akt/mTOR pathway. In LAM/TSC cells FAK inhibition caused the reduction of AKT phosphorylation which was followed by inhibition of mTOR phosphorylation and mTOR autophosphorylation and, consequently, by a strong reduction of S6 phosphorilation as it occurs in nonadherent cells. Anti-EGFR antibody and rapamycin reduced the viability of adherent and nonadherent cells while 5-azacytidine slightly increased the percentage of detaching cells. Nonadherent LAM/TSC cells underwent an extremely low proliferation rate consistent with tumour stem cell characteristics. One of the step driving EMT is the repression of E-cadherin, resulting in the loss of cell-cell adhesion. LAM/TSC cells did not express E-cadherin, but they express vimentin, marker of mesenchymal cells.
EMT process controls the migration of cancer cells from primary tumors depending on an inflammatory microenvironment. LAM/TSC cells secreted high amount of IL-6, IL-8 and IL-1α, cytokines crucial for a variety of cancer cells. The levels of IL-6, IL-8 and IL-1α were not affected by rapamycin or anti-EGFR antibody but were regulated by tuberin expression since their levels were reduced by 5-azacytidine incubation. MMPs degrade and modify the extracellular matrix (ECM), facilitating detachment of cells from the tissue. Levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in urine are predictive of disease status in a variety of cancers and also in LAM. MMP-2 and MMP-9 levels are high in urine of LAM patients and MMP-2 is subs
Tipologia IRIS:
Tesi di dottorato
Keywords:
Tuberous sclerosis complex ; Lymphangioleiomyomatosis ; Matrix metalloproteinases ; Motility ; Rapamycin; anti-EGFR antibody
Elenco autori:
E. Orpianesi
Link alla scheda completa:
Link al Full Text: