Fibroid explants reveal a higher sensitivity against MDM2-inhibitor nutlin-3 than matching myometrium

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Spontaneous cessation of growth is a frequent finding in uterine fibroids. Increasing evidence suggests an important role of cellular senescence in this growth control. Deciphering the underlying mechanisms of growth control that can be expected not only to shed light on the biology of the tumors but also to identify novel therapeutic targets.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We have analyzed uterine leiomyomas and matching normal tissue for the expression of p14^Arfand used explants to see if reducing the MDM2 activity using the small-molecule inhibitor nutlin-3 can induce p53 and activate genes involved in senescence and/or apoptosis. For these studies quantitative real-time RT-PCR, Western blots, and immunohistochemistry were used. Statistical analyses were performed using the student's <it>t </it>test.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>An in depth analysis of 52 fibroids along with matching myometrium from 31 patients revealed in almost all cases a higher expression of p14^Arfin the tumors than in the matching normal tissue. In tissue explants, treatment with the MDM2 inhibitor nutlin-3 induced apoptosis as well as senescence as revealed by a dose-dependent increase of the expression of <it>BAX </it>as well as of <it>p21</it>, respectively. Simultaneously, the expression of the proliferation marker Ki-67 drastically decreased. Western-blot analysis identified an increase of the p53 level as the most likely reason for the increased activity of its downstream markers <it>BAX </it>and <it>p21</it>. Because as a rule fibroids express much higher levels of p14^Arf, a major negative regulator of MDM2, than matching myometrium it was then analyzed if fibroids are more sensitive against nutlin-3 treatment than matching myometrium. We were able to show that in most fibroids analyzed a higher sensibility than that of matching myometrium was noted with a corresponding increase of the p53 immunopositivity of the fibroid samples compared to those from myometrium.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results show that uterine fibroids represent a cell population of advanced cellular age compared to matching myometrium. Moreover, the data point to members of the p53-network as to potential novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of uterine fibroids.</p

Permanent activation of HMGA2 in lipomas mimics its temporal physiological activation linked to the gain of adipose tissue

Objective: In this study the activation of HMGA2 and overexpression by FGF1-driven stimulation of adipose tissue derived stem cells (ADSCs) in adipose tissue tumors were analyzed. In addition, the expression of HMGA2 and PPAR-gamma mRNA were quantified in canine subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue from normal and overweight purebred dogs. Design and Methods: ADSCs and adipose tissue explants stimulated with FGF1 followed by gene expression analyses of HMGA2 and p14Arf using Western-blot and qRT-PCR. Furthermore, canine subcutaneous white adipose tissue (WAT) were analyzed by qRT-PCR for their expression of HMGA2 and PPAR-gamma. Results: ADSCs and adipose tissue explants are able to execute a HMGA2 response upon FGF1 stimulation. FGF1 enhances proliferation of ADSCs by a HMGA2-dependent mechanism. In lipomas increase of HMGA2 is accompanied by increased expression of p14Arf. Furthermore, a significantly elevated level of HMGA2 in overweight dogs and a negative correlation between the expression of HMGA2 and PPAR-gamma in subcutaneous cWAT were noted. Conclusions: These results suggest that WAT contains cells that as essential part of adipogenesis up-regulate HMGA2 resulting from growth factor stimulation. In subgroups of lipoma, constitutive activation of HMGA2 due to rearrangements replaces the temporal response triggered by growth factors