bims-stacyt Biomed News
on Metabolism and the paracrine crosstalk between cancer and the organism
Issue of 2020–01–26
six papers selected by
Cristina Muñoz Pinedo, L’Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge



  1. J Neuroinflammation. 2020 Jan 24. 17(1): 33
       BACKGROUND: In cerebral ischemia, microglia have a dichotomous role in keeping the balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators to avoid deleterious chronic inflammation and to leverage repair processes.
    METHODS: We examined functional and inflammatory markers in primary rat microglia in vitro after oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) or glucose deprivation (aglycemia). We then investigated the preconditioning effect of OGD or aglycemia upon a subsequent strong inflammatory stimulus, here lipopolysaccharides (LPS). Moreover, an "in vitro brain model" of neurons and glia, differentiated from primary rat neural stem cells, was exposed to OGD or aglycemia. Conditioned medium (CM) of this neuronal/glial co-culture was then used to condition microglia, followed by LPS as a "second hit."
    RESULTS: OGD or aglycemia at sublethal doses did not significantly affect microglia function, including the expression of inflammatory markers. However, preconditioning with either OGD or aglycemia led to a decreased pro-inflammatory response to a subsequent stimulus with LPS. Interestingly, the anti-inflammatory markers IGF-1 and IL-10 were additionally reduced after such preconditioning, while expression of CD206 remained unaffected. Treatment with CM from the neuronal/glial co-culture alone did not affect the expression of inflammatory markers in microglia. In contrast, treatment with CM increased the expression of both pro- and anti-inflammatory markers in microglia upon a second hit with LPS. Interestingly, this effect could be attenuated in microglia treated with CM from neuronal/glia co-cultures preconditioned with OGD or aglycemia.
    CONCLUSIONS: Data suggest specific and distinct microglia signatures in response to metabolic stress. While metabolic stress directly and indirectly applied to microglia did not mitigate their subsequent response to inflammation, preconditioning with metabolic stress factors such as OGD and aglycemia elicited a decreased inflammatory response to a subsequent inflammation stimulus.
    Keywords:  Astrocytes; LPS; Neurons; OGD; Oxygen-glucose deprivation; inflammation; neural stem cells; preconditioning
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12974-020-1697-8
  2. Sci Rep. 2020 Jan 20. 10(1): 670
      Adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) play a central role in tissue remodeling and homeostasis. However, whether ATMs promote adipose angiogenesis in obesity remains unclear. We examined the impact of ATMs deletion on adipose angiogenesis and tissue expansion in the epididymal white adipose tissue (eWAT) of high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice by using liposome-encapsulated clodronate. We further elucidated the induction mechanisms of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-B in macrophages in response to obesity-associated metabolic stresses, since it plays a significant role in the regulation of pericyte behavior for the initiation of neoangiogenesis during tissue expansion. ATM depletion prevented adipose tissue expansion in HFD-fed mice by inhibiting pericyte detachment from vessels, resulting in less vasculature in eWAT. The lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation and high glucose concentration augmented glucose incorporation and glycolytic capacity with the induction of Pdgfb mRNA. This effect was mediated through extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) among mitogen-activated protein kinases coupled with glycolysis in RAW264.7 macrophages. The Pdgfb induction system was distinct from that of inflammatory cytokines mediated by mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) and NFκB signaling. Thus, obesity-associated hyperglycemia and chronic inflammation fuels ERK signaling coupled with glycolysis in pro-inflammatory macrophages, which contribute to the expansion of eWAT through PDGF-B-dependent vascular remodeling.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-57368-w
  3. J Vasc Res. 2020 Jan 22. 1-10
      Diabetes mellitus (DM)-induced impairment of collateral formation has been demonstrated in subjects with coronary artery disease, which contributes to unfavorable prognosis among diabetic individuals. In our previous studies, thioredoxin1 (Trx1) activity was shown to be decreased in diabetic cardiac tissues, but the reason of Trx1 inactivation and whether it mediates the impaired angiogenesis in ischemic myocardium is still to be identified. As thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP), an endogenous inhibitor of Trx, is overexpressed in DM due to carbohydrate response element within its promoter, we hypothesized that inhibition of Trx1 by enhanced TXNIP expression in endothelial cells may play a role in hyperglycemia-induced impairment of angiogenesis. In the present study, we found that high glucose-mediated increase of TXNIP expression and TXNIP-Trx1 interaction induced the impairment in endothelial cell function and survival, since these detrimental effects are rescued by silencing TXNIP with small interfering RNA. In diabetic mice, TXNIP knockdown or recombinant human Trx1 treatment counteracted the impairment of angiogenesis, alleviated myocardial ischemic injury, and improved survival rate. All these data implicate that TXNIP upregulation and subsequently the increased formation of TXNIP-Trx1 complex is a novel pathologic pathway by which DM induces insufficient angiogenesis and thereby exacerbates myocardial ischemia injury.
    Keywords:  Angiogenesis; Diabetes; Endothelial cell; Myocardial infarction; Thioredoxin
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1159/000505455
  4. Biomedicines. 2020 Jan 16. pii: E16. [Epub ahead of print]8(1):
      Blood-derived factor preparations are being clinically employed as tools for promoting tissue repair and regeneration. Here we set out to characterize the in vitro angiogenic potential of two types of frequently used autologous blood-derived secretomes: platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and hypoxia preconditioned plasma (HPP)/serum (HPS). The concentration of key pro-angiogenic (VEGF) and anti-angiogenic (TSP-1, PF-4) protein factors in these secretomes was analyzed via ELISA, while their ability to induce microvessel formation and sprouting was examined in endothelial cell and aortic ring cultures, respectively. We found higher concentrations of VEGF in PRP and HPP/HPS compared to normal plasma and serum. This correlated with improved induction of microvessel formation by PRP and HPP/HPS. HPP had a significantly lower TSP-1 and PF-4 concentration than PRP and HPS. PRP and HPP/HPS appeared to induce similar levels of microvessel sprouting; however, the length of these sprouts was greater in HPP/HPS than in PRP cultures. A bell-shaped angiogenic response profile was observed with increasing HPP/HPS dilutions, with peak values significantly exceeding the PRP response. Our findings demonstrate that optimization of peripheral blood cell-derived angiogenic factor signalling through hypoxic preconditioning offers an improved alternative to simple platelet concentration and release of growth factors pre-stored in platelets.
    Keywords:  angiogenesis; blood-derived therapy; hypoxia; hypoxia preconditioned plasma; hypoxia preconditioned serum; peripheral blood cells; platelet rich plasma (PRP)
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines8010016
  5. FASEB J. 2020 Jan 21.
      Sepsis is a leading cause of death worldwide and recent studies have shown white adipose tissue (WAT) to be an important regulator in septic conditions. In the present study, the role of the inflammatory cytokine macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) and its structural homolog D-dopachrome tautomerase (D-DT/MIF-2) were investigated in WAT in a murine endotoxemia model. Both MIF and MIF-2 levels were increased in the peritoneal fluid of LPS-challenged wild-type mice, yet, in visceral WAT, the proteins were differentially regulated, with elevated MIF but downregulated MIF-2 expression in adipocytes. Mif gene deletion polarized adipose tissue macrophages (ATM) toward an anti-inflammatory phenotype while Mif-2 gene knockout drove ATMs toward a pro-inflammatory phenotype and Mif-deficiency was found to increase fibroblast viability. Additionally, we observed the same differential regulation of these two MIF family proteins in human adipose tissue in septic vs healthy patients. Taken together, these data suggest an inverse relationship between adipocyte MIF and MIF-2 expression during systemic inflammation, with the downregulation of MIF-2 in fat tissue potentially increasing pro-inflammatory macrophage polarization to further drive adipose inflammation.
    Keywords:  D-DT; MIF; MIF-2; adipose tissue; inflammation; macrophage; macrophage polarization; sepsis; wound healing
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.201901511R
  6. Biology (Basel). 2020 Jan 18. pii: E20. [Epub ahead of print]9(1):
      Breast cancer is the main cause of cancer-related death in women in the world. Because autophagy is a known survival pathway for cancer cells, its inhibition is currently being explored in clinical trials for treating several types of malignancies. In breast cancer, autophagy has been shown to be necessary for the survival of cancer cells from the triple negative subtype (TNBC), which has the worst prognosis among breast cancers and currently has limited therapeutic options. Autophagy has also been involved in the regulation of protein secretion and, of importance for this work, the inhibition of autophagy is known to promote the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines from distinct cell types. We found that the inhibition of autophagy in TNBC cell lines induced the secretion of the macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), a pro-tumorigenic cytokine involved in breast cancer invasion and immunomodulation. MIF secretion was dependent on an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by the inhibition of autophagy. Importantly, MIF secreted from autophagy-deficient cells increased the migration of cells not treated with autophagy inhibitors, indicating that autophagy inhibition in cancer cells promoted malignancy in neighboring cells through the release of secreted factors, and that a combinatorial approach should be evaluated for cancer therapy.
    Keywords:  MIF; ROS; autophagy; breast cancer; chloroquine; p115; reactive oxygen species; secretion
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/biology9010020