Az őssejtek részvétele a máj regenerációban és a carcinogenezisben = The role of stem cells in liver regeneration and carcinogenesis

Ovális sejtes reakció indulásakor a patkány májában sajátos fenotípusú CK19+/7- ductulusok hámsejtjei kezdenek proliferálni. Ez alapján arra lehet következtetni, hogy a máj őssejtek ebben a kompartmentben találhatóak. A CK19+/7- ductulusok hosszú, olykor elágazódó képleteket alkotnak, melyek nem terjednek be a hepatocyták közé. Ez a sajátos epeút fenotipus csak postnatalisan alakul ki. Az ovális sejtek többféle megoszlásban is képesek hepatocytákká differenciálódni, de celluláris szinten a differenciálódási program azonosnak tűnik. A folyamat HNF4 expresszióval és a bazális membrán degradálódásával kezdődik, amit gyorsan követ az epeút markerek (OV6,Cx43, integrin 1) eltűnése, a hepatocyta tulajdonságok (CYP, CD26, Cx32, integrin 1) megjelenése. A differenciálódás folyamata felgyorsítható hepatocyta mitogénekkel. Az ezt követő regeneráció szérum szinten is javuló májfunkcióval jár kísérleti állatokban. Csontvelő sejtekből nem sikerült transzdifferenciálódás útján hepatocytákat előállítanunk. Eredményeink szerint az ovális sejteken leírt haemopoetikus marker (Thy-1) is valójában az ovális sejtekkel szoros kontaktusban levő stellát sejtekben expresszálódik. A májukban fokozott mértékben TGF-t termelő transzgén egerekben a tioacetamid indukált májfibrosis felgyorsulása a regresszió lelassulása volt megfigyelhető. | There are biliary ductules in the rat liver with a unique CK19+/7- phenotype. This special immunophenotype develops only in the postnatal life These are the ductules which are proliferating first at the beginning of oval cell proliferation, indicating that they may harbour the hepatic stem cell compartment. These ductules, contrary to the traditional view of canals of Hering form occasionally long, winding and branching tubules but they do not spread into the liver lobule. The oval cells are able to differentiate into hepatocytes in different distributions. But the differentiation program on cellular level seems identical. The process is initiated by the upregulation of HNF-4 and the degradation of the basement membrane. This is followed by the disappearance of biliary markers (e.g. OV6,Cx43, 6 integrin) and expression of hepatocytic markers (CYP enzymes, Cx32, 1 integrin, CD26). The differentiation can be accelerated by primary hepatocyte mitogens. The improved hepatic function can be detected after the differentiation even in the serum of the animals. We did not succeed to generate hepatocytes from bone marrow cells by transdifferentiation. We also studied the expression of a haemopoetic stem cell marker, Thy-1 in our oval cell proliferation model and found it to be present not on the oval cells, as it had been reported, but on the stellate cells. Accelerated liver fibrosis and decelerated regression was observed following thioacetamide treatment in transgenic mice overexpressing TGF-beta in their liver

Immune cell profile of sentinel lymph nodes in patients with malignant melanoma - FOXP3+ cell density in cases with positive sentinel node status is associated with unfavorable clinical outcome

BACKGROUND: Besides being a preferential site of early metastasis, the sentinel lymph node (SLN) is also a privileged site of T-cell priming, and may thus be an appropriate target for investigating cell types involved in antitumor immune reactions. METHODS: In this retrospective study we determined the prevalence of OX40+ activated T lymphocytes, FOXP3+ (forkhead box P3) regulatory T cells, DC-LAMP+ (dendritic cell-lysosomal associated membrane protein) mature dendritic cells (DCs) and CD123+ plasmacytoid DCs by immunohistochemistry in 100 SLNs from 60 melanoma patients. Density values of each cell type in SLNs were compared to those in non-sentinel nodes obtained from block dissections (n = 37), and analyzed with regard to associations with clinicopathological parameters and disease outcome. RESULTS: Sentinel nodes showed elevated amount of all cell types studied in comparison to non-sentinel nodes. Metastatic SLNs had higher density of OX40+ lymphocytes compared to tumor-negative nodes, while no significant difference was observed in the case of the other cell types studied. In patients with positive sentinel node status, high amount of FOXP3+ cells in SLNs was associated with shorter progression-free (P = 0.0011) and overall survival (P = 0.0014), while no significant correlation was found in the case of sentinel-negative patients. The density of OX40+, CD123+ or DC-LAMP+ cells did not show significant association with the outcome of the disease. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our results are compatible with the hypothesis of functional competence of sentinel lymph nodes based on the prevalence of the studied immune cells. The density of FOXP3+ lymphocytes showed association with progression and survival in patients with positive SLN status, while the other immune markers studied did not prove of prognostic importance. These results, together with our previous findings on the prognostic value of activated T cells and mature DCs infiltrating primary melanomas, suggest that immune activation-associated markers in the primary tumor may have a higher impact than those in SLNs on the prognosis of the patients. On the other hand, FOXP3+ cell density in SLNs, but not in the primary tumor, was found predictive of disease outcome in melanoma patients

Sex-dependent liver colonization of human melanoma in SCID mice-role of host defense mechanisms

The possibility that endocrine factors may influence the clinical course of malignant melanoma is suggested by the superior survival data of women. In preclinical models we observed a higher rate of colony formation by human melanoma cells in male compared to female SCID mice, but only in the case of the liver and not in other organs. The gender difference could be seen at an early phase of colony formation. On the other hand, in our human melanoma cell lines we failed to detect steroid receptor protein expression, and treatment with sex hormones did not considerably influence their in vitro behavior. Investigating the possible contribution of host cells to the observed gender difference, we performed in vivo blocking experiments applying pretreatment of the animals with Kupffer cell inhibitor gadolinium chloride and the NK cell inhibitor anti-asialo GM1 antibody. While Kupffer cell blockade enhanced melanoma liver colonization equally in the two sexes, a more prominent increase was observed in female than in male mice in the case of NK cell inhibition. Further supporting the importance of NK cells in the lower liver colonization efficiency of melanoma cells in females, gender difference in colony formation was lost in NSG mice lacking NK activity. Although in humans no organ selectivity of gender difference in melanoma progression has been observed according to data in the literature, our results possibly indicate a contribution of natural host defense mechanisms to gender difference in survival of patients with melanoma or other tumor types as well

Tumor-infiltrating immune cells as potential biomarkers predicting response to treatment and survival in patients with metastatic melanoma receiving ipilimumab therapy

Monoclonal antibodies targeting immune checkpoints are gaining ground in the treatment of melanoma and other cancers, and considerable effort is made to identify biomarkers predicting the efficacy of these therapies. Our retrospective study was performed on surgical tissue samples (52 lymph nodes and 34 cutaneous/subcutaneous metastases) from 30 patients with metastatic melanoma treated with ipilimumab. Using a panel of 11 antibodies against different immune cell types, intratumoral immune cell densities were determined and evaluated in relation to response to ipilimumab treatment and disease outcome. For most markers studied, median immune cell densities were at least two times higher in lymph node metastases compared to skin/subcutaneous ones; therefore, the prognostic and predictive associations of immune cell infiltration were evaluated separately in the two groups of metastases as well as in all samples as a whole. Higher prevalence of several immune cell types was seen in lymph node metastases of the responders compared to non-responders, particularly FOXP3+ cells and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In subcutaneous or cutaneous metastases, on the other hand, significant difference could be observed only in the case of CD16 and CD68. Associations of labeled cell densities with survival were also found for most cell types studied in nodal metastases, and for CD16+ and CD68+ cells in skin/s.c. metastatic cases. Our results corroborate the previous findings suggesting an association between an immunologically active tumor microenvironment and response to ipilimumab treatment, and propose new potential biomarkers for predicting treatment efficacy and disease outcome