Introdução: A alteração dos níveis normais de marcadores séricos e urinários ocorre na presença de dano renal associado à uropatia obstrutiva. Valores séricos e e urinários de TGF beta1 e CA 19-9 ainda não foram avaliados em modelo experimental de uropatia obstrutiva. Material e Métodos: Ratos foram divididos em sete grupos: referência, sham operation, nefrectomia unilateral, ligadura completa de ureter unilateral, obstrução parcial de ureter unilateral, obstrução parcial de ambos ureteres, nefrectomia unilateral associada à obstrução parcial do ureter contralateral. Morfometria renal e ureteral, concentrações séricas e urinárias de TGF beta1 e CA 19-9 e expressão tecidual renal de CA 19-9 foram analisadas. A correlação destes marcadores com os grupos submetidos a obstrução completa, obstrução parcial ou sem obstrução foi realizada. Resultados: Achados anatomopatológicos correlacionaram-se positivamente à intensidade da obstrução ureteral e negativamente aos níveis urinários de CA 19-9. Subexpressão acentuada do CA 19-9 foi observada em unidades renais com obstrução completa. Não foram encontradas diferenças estatisticamente significativas para os marcadores TGF beta1 urinário, TGF beta1 sérico e para o CA 19-9 sérico Conclusões: O CA 19-9 urinário correlacionou-se negativamente com o grau de obstrução ureteral. A análise imuno-histoquímica demonstrou a expressão do CA 19-9 no citoplasma das células epiteliais tubulares, sugerindo produção renal do marcador. O TGF beta1 sérico e urinário não apresentaram modificações de acordo com o grau de severidade e tempo de obstrução, o que pode estar relacionado a remodelamento renal menos intenso em resposta à uropatia obstrutiva nestes ratos / Introduction: Abnormal levels of serum and urinary markers occur in the presence of renal damage associated to obstructive uropathy. Urinary and serum TGFbeta1 and CA 19- 9 have not yet been evaluated in an experimental model of obstructive uropathy. Material and Methods: Rats were divided into seven groups: reference, sham operation, unilateral nephrectomy, complete unilateral ureteral obstruction, partial unilateral ureteral obstruction, partial bilateral ureteral obstruction, and unilateral nephrectomy with contralateral partial ureteral obstruction. Kidney and ureter morphometry, TGFbeta1 and CA 19-9 serum and urinary concentrations and CA 19-9 renal tissue expression were analysed. Correlation of these markers to complete, partial obstruction or unobstructed groups was performed. Results: Pathological findings correlated positively with the degree of ureteral obstruction, but negatively with urinary CA 19-9 levels. Marked underexpression of CA 19-9 was observed in kidneys with complete ureteral obstruction. No statistically significant differences were found for urinary and serum TGFbeta1 and also for serum CA 19-9. Conclusions: Urinary CA 19-9 correlated negatively with ureteral obstruction grade. Immunohistochemistry depicted CA 19-9 expression on epithelial tubular cells cytoplasm, suggesting renal origin. Serum and urinary TGFbeta1 did not show alterations in response to severity and length of urinary obstruction, which might be associated with less intense renal remodeling

Articular cartilage which covers the surfaces of synovial joints is designed to allow smooth contact between long bones and to absorb shock induced during joint movement. Tissue engineering, a means of combining cells, biomaterials, bioreactors and bioactive agents to produce functional tissue replacements suitable for implantation, represents a potential long-term strategy for cartilage repair. The interplay between environmental factors, however, gives rise to complex culture conditions that influence the development of tissue-engineered constructs. A fibrous capsule that is composed of abundant type I collagen molecules and resembles fibrocartilage usually forms at the outer edge of neocartilage, yet the understanding of its modulation by environmental cues is still limited. Therefore, this dissertation was aimed to characterize the capsule formation, development and function through manipulation of biochemical parameters present in a hydrodynamic environment while a chemically reliable media preparation protocol for hydrodynamic cultivation of tissue-engineered cartilage was established. To this end, a novel wavy-wall bioreactor (WWB) that imparts turbulent flow-induced shear stress was employed as the model system and polyglycolic acid scaffolds seeded with bovine primary chondrocytes were cultivated under varied biochemical conditions. The results demonstrated that tissue morphology, biochemical composition and mechanical strength of hydrodynamically engineered cartilage were maintained as the serum content decreased by 80% (from 10% to 2%). Transient exposure of the low-serum constructs to exogenous insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) or transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) further accelerated their development in comparison with continuous treatment with the same bioactive molecules. The process of the capsule formation was found to be activated and modulated by the concentration of serum which contains soluble factors that are able to induce fibrotic processes and the capsule development was further promoted by fluid shear stress. Moreover, the capsule formation in hydrodynamic cultures was identified as a potential biphasic process in response to concentrations of fibrosis-promoting molecules such as TGF-β. Comparison between the capsule-containing and the capsule-free constructs, both of which had comparable tissue properties and were produced by utilizing the WWB system in combination with IGF-1 and TGF-β1, respectively, showed that the presence of the fibrous capsule at the construct periphery effectively improved the ability of engineered cartilage to integrate with native cartilage tissues, but evidently compromised its tissue homogeneity. Characterization of the fibrous capsule and elucidation of the conditions under which it is formed provide important insights for the development of tissue engineering strategies to fabricate clinically relevant cartilage tissue replacements that possess optimized tissue homogeneity and properties while retaining a minimal capsule thickness required to enhance tissue integration.

Introduction: Idiopathic Pulmonary arteriole hypertension (IPAH) is a rare but severely debilitating disease that strikes women to men at a ratio of 3:1. Endothelial cell (EC) dysfunction is a hallmark of the disease. This includes rapid growth of the ECs until the occlusion of the vasculature as well as decreased blood levels of vasodilators. Markedly increased levels of endothelin-1, a potent vasoconstrictor and smooth muscle mitogen, have been noted in IPAH patients. / Recently mutations in the bone morphogenic protein receptor type II (BMPRII) have been linked to the disease. Interestingly mutations in activin-like kinase-1 (ALK-1) and endoglin have been linked to hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), a disease that results in PAH clinically indistinguishable from IPAH. All of these proteins are either receptors or co-receptors to members of the TGFbeta superfamily. The connection of these mutations to the disease still remains largely a mystery to researchers and the effects of either bone morphogenic proteins 2, 4, 7 or TGFbeta levels on endothelin-1(ET-1) production in human microvascular endothelial cells cultured from normal lungs (HMVEC-LBI) are unknown. / Methods: HMVEC-LBI cells were cultured in the presence of various concentrations of BMP 2,4,7 and TGFbeta, in complete media or serum starved conditions. After allotted time points the media was collected and assayed by ELISA, meanwhile the cells were lysed and protein content assayed for normalization purposes. Small Mothers against Decapentaplegic (SMAD) 1/5 phosphorylation was also measured. / Results and Conclusions: Despite evidence that all BMPs used were biologically active, namely through SMAD phosphorylation studies, only BMP7 at very high dosages increased ET-1 production levels. TGFbeta had a more pronounced effect at earlier time points with lower concentrations. The results provide insights on the effects of an important group of proteins, the BMPs and TGFbeta, on lung microvascular ECs and which are likely the key cellular player In IPAH development. These findings may have clinical relevance in terms of control of the disease and understanding the normal response of these cells BMPs and TGFbeta.

Myofibroblast expansion is a critical event in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis. The activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSC) to myofibroblast (MFB) results in the enhanced production of extracellular matrix (ECM). We have studied the effect of fibroblast growth factor 1 (FGF-1) on liver MFB. In the second part we investigated effect of transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) and FGF-1 on cell line HSC-T6. Cells were cultured on plastic dishes and in 3D collagen gel mimicking fibrotic tissue. MFB were isolated by repeated passaging of nonparenchymal liver cell fraction. The transfer of MFB from plastic dishes to collagen gel resulted in the change in their shape and phenotype. The expression of cytokine TGF-β1 and of MFB markers, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and cellular fibronectin (EDA-FN) on protein level was significantly decreased in collagen gel. The experiments with SB 431542, the inhibitor of TGF-β receptor type I, showed that EDA-FN and α-SMA are differently regulated. EDA-FN expression is dependent on TGF-β1, while the expression of α-SMA is primarily determined by the environment and modified by TGF-β1. EDA-FN is more sensitive to the U0126, the inhibitor of protein kinases MEK 1 and 2. Collagen gel does not change the expression of metalloproteinase MMP-2 but activates the proenzyme....

L'intégrine β1 appartient à une large famille de récepteurs de première importance pour les interactions cellule/matrice extracellulaire. La délétion spécifique d'un régulateur négatif de l'intégrine β1, ICAP-1α, induit de sévères défauts osseux. Nous avons pu montrer que la perte d'ICAP-1α est accompagnée d'une augmentation de l'activité de l'intégrine β1, affectant le dépôt des matrices de fibronectine et de collagène de type I. De plus, nous avons pu montrer qu'ICAP-1α a une action antagoniste sur le recrutement de la kindline-2 au niveau du domaine cytoplasmique de l'intégrine β1 (Brunner et al. JCB 2011). Nous nous sommes ensuite intéressés au rôle de l'intégrine β1 elle-même dans l'ostéogenèse afin de comprendre comment les ostéoblastes intègrent les signaux du microenvironnement pour coordonner la formation et le remodelage osseux. Dans cette optique, nous avons généré un modèle de souris délétées pour l'intégrine β1 spécifiquement dans les ostéoblastes en cours de maturation. Ces souris présentent un sévère phénotype osseux caractérisé par des réductions importantes de la minéralisation et de la dynamique osseuse, ainsi que des déformations osseuses et des fractures rappelant le syndrome d'Ostéoporose Juvénile. L'analyse in vitro d'ostéoblastes n'exprimant pas l'intégrine β1 a révélé un défaut majeur de prolifération impliquant non pas la voie canonique MAPK/ERK mais plutôt un défaut d'activation du co-facteur de transcription YAP. De plus, nous avons pu montrer que les intégrines β1 régulaient le niveau d'AMP cyclique (AMPc) dans les ostéoblastes et que ceci était corrélé à l'inactivation de YAP. De même, nous avons pu relier l'inactivation de YAP à la dynamique d'endocytose des rafts. Finalement, des analyses in vivo et in vitro ont révélé un défaut fonctionnel des ostéoblastes dépourvus d'intégrine β1. Nous avons pu montrer que cette incapacité fonctionnelle était due à une réduction de la réponse au BMP-2, facteur de croissance ostéoblastique majeur, non pas au niveau de son récepteur mais probablement au niveau de l'activation des promoteurs BMP-dépendants. Nos résultats montrent ainsi que l'intégrine β1 est un régulateur clé de la prolifération ostéoblastique dépendante de YAP et de la signalisation BMP régulant la fonction ostéoblastique, la minéralisation et la formation osseuse. / Β1 integrins belong to a large family of receptors that have been shown to be of paramount importance for cell/extracellular matrix interactions. The ablation of the specific β1 integrin regulator ICAP-1α results in severe bone and mineralization defects. By combining mouse and cell biology we could demonstrate that loss of ICAP-1α was accompanied by an increase of β1 integrin activity that affects fibronectin and collagen deposition. Moreover, we could show that ICAP-1 is an important negative regulator of kindlin-2 recruitment on β1 integrin cytoplasmic domain (Brunner et al. JCB 2011). We then wanted to address the functional role of β1 integrin per se in osteogenesis and to understand how osteoblasts integrate environmental cues to coordinate bone formation and remodeling. For this we generated osteoblast specific β1 integrin deficient mice. These mice showed severe bone defects characterized by reduced bone mineralization and dynamic, as well as bending and fractures reminding human Juvenile Osteoporosis symptoms. In vitro analyses of β1 integrin deficient osteoblasts revealed proliferation defect which is not due to defective canonical MAPK/ERK pathway, but rather to defective activity of the co-transcription factor YAP. Then, we showed that β1 integrins are regulating cAMP level in osteoblasts and that the cAMP level correlates with YAP inactivation. We also linked YAP inactivation with raft endocytosis. Finally, in vivo and in vitro analyses revealed a functional incapacity of β1 integrin deficient osteoprecursors. We could show that the lazy phenotype of β1 integrin deficient osteoblasts is likely due to a reduced response to BMP signaling, a major osteoblast growth factor. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that β1 integrin is a key regulator of YAP-dependent osteoblast proliferation and BMP signaling allowing osteoblast functionality, mineralization and bone formation.

Introdução: A alteração dos níveis normais de marcadores séricos e urinários ocorre na presença de dano renal associado à uropatia obstrutiva. Valores séricos e e urinários de TGF beta1 e CA 19-9 ainda não foram avaliados em modelo experimental de uropatia obstrutiva. Material e Métodos: Ratos foram divididos em sete grupos: referência, sham operation, nefrectomia unilateral, ligadura completa de ureter unilateral, obstrução parcial de ureter unilateral, obstrução parcial de ambos ureteres, nefrectomia unilateral associada à obstrução parcial do ureter contralateral. Morfometria renal e ureteral, concentrações séricas e urinárias de TGF beta1 e CA 19-9 e expressão tecidual renal de CA 19-9 foram analisadas. A correlação destes marcadores com os grupos submetidos a obstrução completa, obstrução parcial ou sem obstrução foi realizada. Resultados: Achados anatomopatológicos correlacionaram-se positivamente à intensidade da obstrução ureteral e negativamente aos níveis urinários de CA 19-9. Subexpressão acentuada do CA 19-9 foi observada em unidades renais com obstrução completa. Não foram encontradas diferenças estatisticamente significativas para os marcadores TGF beta1 urinário, TGF beta1 sérico e para o CA 19-9 sérico Conclusões: O CA 19-9 urinário correlacionou-se negativamente com o grau de obstrução ureteral. A análise imuno-histoquímica demonstrou a expressão do CA 19-9 no citoplasma das células epiteliais tubulares, sugerindo produção renal do marcador. O TGF beta1 sérico e urinário não apresentaram modificações de acordo com o grau de severidade e tempo de obstrução, o que pode estar relacionado a remodelamento renal menos intenso em resposta à uropatia obstrutiva nestes ratos / Introduction: Abnormal levels of serum and urinary markers occur in the presence of renal damage associated to obstructive uropathy. Urinary and serum TGFbeta1 and CA 19- 9 have not yet been evaluated in an experimental model of obstructive uropathy. Material and Methods: Rats were divided into seven groups: reference, sham operation, unilateral nephrectomy, complete unilateral ureteral obstruction, partial unilateral ureteral obstruction, partial bilateral ureteral obstruction, and unilateral nephrectomy with contralateral partial ureteral obstruction. Kidney and ureter morphometry, TGFbeta1 and CA 19-9 serum and urinary concentrations and CA 19-9 renal tissue expression were analysed. Correlation of these markers to complete, partial obstruction or unobstructed groups was performed. Results: Pathological findings correlated positively with the degree of ureteral obstruction, but negatively with urinary CA 19-9 levels. Marked underexpression of CA 19-9 was observed in kidneys with complete ureteral obstruction. No statistically significant differences were found for urinary and serum TGFbeta1 and also for serum CA 19-9. Conclusions: Urinary CA 19-9 correlated negatively with ureteral obstruction grade. Immunohistochemistry depicted CA 19-9 expression on epithelial tubular cells cytoplasm, suggesting renal origin. Serum and urinary TGFbeta1 did not show alterations in response to severity and length of urinary obstruction, which might be associated with less intense renal remodeling

Orientador: Cláudio Chrysostomo Werneck / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-23T04:57:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Nery-Diez_AnaClaudiaCoelho_D.pdf: 21192177 bytes, checksum: 572bd54be1e7496c1fd325e94812ecc1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: As mutações no gene da fibrilina-1, presente na fibra elástica, estão relacionadas à síndrome de Marfan, doença genética autossômica dominante. Acredita-se que a maioria dos seus sintomas esteja relacionada a uma hiper-ativação do fator TGF-?. Quando camundongos modelo para síndrome são tratados com losartan apresentam uma melhora significativa nos sinais clínicos. Assim, neste estudo, investigamos o papel de fibrilina-1 na análise de trombose arterial em modelos de camundongos para a síndrome de Marfan (Fbn1mg?/+). Foram analisados a formação de trombos, os níveis de plaquetas, APTT, PT e TT, agregação e adesão plaquetária, parâmetros hemodinâmicos, níveis de TGF-?, atividade das MMPs, bem como a morfologia das plaquetas, das fibras elásticas e dos trombos. Foi observado que os animais Fbn1mg?/+ necessitam de cerca de 120±21,07 minutos para formarem o trombo, enquanto os animais selvagens precisam de 58±7,16 minutos. Mas, quando os animais Fbn1mg?/+ foram tratados com anti-hipertensivos losartan e captopril, ocorreu uma recuperação no tempo de formação do trombo, com redução de 57,5% e 67,5% no tempo, respectivamente. Além disso, constatou-se que os animais Fbn1mg?/+ apresentam um aumento na atividade das MMPs e TGF-? ativos, quando tratados com os anti-hipertensivos, houve uma diminuição apenas na atividade das MMPs. Ademais, não foi verificada diferença significativa entre todos os outros parâmetros analisados. Este estudo sugere que, de alguma forma, as drogas interferem na remodelação da matriz elástica, devido a uma diminuição da atividade das metaloproteinases de matriz e, consequentemente, leva á recuperação na formação do trombo / Abstract: Recent works show that an increased activation of the TGF-? is associated with most of the symptoms of the Marfan syndrome. Studies using mouse models of Marfan treated with losartan have been shown to prevent the degradation of the elastic matrix. Other investigators suggest that the metalloproteinases and the noncanonical ERK signaling are involved in the breakdown of the elastic fiber, which results in the aneurysm. In this study we investigated the role of fibrillin-1 in the arterial thrombosis model using mouse models of Marfan. We analyzed thrombus formation, platelet levels, APTT, PT and TT time, hemodynamic parameter, TGF-? levels, MMP activity as well as platelets, elastic fibers morphology and thrombus. This study demonstrated that Fbn1mg?/+ mice take about 120±21,07 minutes for the thrombus to be formed when compared with wild type, 58±7,16. When these Fbn1mg?/+ mice were treated with antihypertensive losartan and captopril the time taken for the thrombus formation was reduced in 57,5% and 67,5%, respectively. The activity of metalloproteinases and activity TGF-? was increased in the Fbn1mg?/+, however no significant difference between the hemodynamic parameters, levels of totals TGF-?, morphological platelets, elastic fiber and thrombus were observed. Finally, the results suggested that fibrillin-1 interferes with this process and antihypertensive affect the physiology of Fbn1mg?/+ mice. This study suggested that somehow drugs interfere with elastic matrix remodeling due to a decrease in the activity of matrix metalloproteinases which results in the recovery time of thrombus formation / Doutorado / Bioquimica / Doutora em Biologia Funcional e Molecular

No description available.

Transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta1) ist ein multifunktionales Zytokin, welches eine Rolle in der Sepsis und in der Sepsis-induzierten Myopathie spielen könnte. Weiterhin könnten erhöhte TGF-beta1-Level zur Muskelschwäche, die mit der Intensivpflege assoziiert ist (engl. intensiv care unit-acquired weakness, ICUAW), beitragen. Der TGF-beta1- Signalweg wurde in Skelettmuskelbiopsien von ICUAW-Patienten heraufreguliert. Secreted frizzled related protein 2 (SFRP2) wurde in einer Gen-Set-Anreicherungsanalyse als das am höchsten regulierte Gen identifiziert. Im Mausmodell führten Sepsis und Hunger zu einer verringerten Sfrp2-Expression, während dies in der Denervation-induzierten Skelettmuskelatrophie nicht festzustellen war. In differenzierten C2C12-Myotuben führte TGF-beta1 zu einer verringerten Sfrp2-mRNA- und Proteinexpression. Luciferase-Assays deuteten auf eine TGF-beta1-abhängige Herunterregulation von Sfrp2 hin, welche auf Promoterebene durch mögliche negative regulatorische Elemente im Sfrp2-Promoter vermittelt wurde. Weiterhin wurde eine TGF-beta1 induzierte Muskelatrophie durch transkriptionelle Repression der myosin heavy chain Gene beobachtet. Im Gegensatz dazu veränderte TGF-beta1 nicht den proteasomalen Abbau muskulärer Proteine. Die Genexpression von Tripartite motif containing 63 und F-box only protein 32 war hingegen leicht herunterreguliert. TGF-beta1-induzierte Atrophie in differenzierten C2C12-Myotuben wurde teilweise durch rekombinantes Sfrp2 aufgehoben. Weiterhin wurde eine direkte physikalische Interaktion zwischen Sfrp2 und TGF-beta1 gefunden, welche diesen Effekt verursacht haben könnte. Zusammengefasst lässt sich feststellen, dass der TGF-beta1- Signalweg eine wichtige Rolle in der ICUAW durch Inhibition der myosin heavy chain Expression spielt. TGF-beta1-abhängige Herunterregulation von Sfrp2 könnte zu einer Feedback-Antwort, die das Ausmaß der Atrophie durch TGF-beta1 verstärkt, führen. / Transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta1) is a multifunctional cytokine that may play a role in sepsis and in sepsis-induced myopathy. Our group speculated that increased TGF-beta1 could contribute to intensive care (ICU)-acquired weakness (ICUAW), a catastrophic muscle disease in critically ill patients. We found that TGF-beta1 signaling in skeletal muscle biopsies of ICUAW patients was upregulated. Secreted frizzled related protein 2 (SFRP2) was the most regulated gene identified by gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). I then studied the regulation and function of SFRP2 in different skeletal muscle atrophy models. In three mouse models, downregulated Sfrp2 expression was observed in sepsis and starvation, but not in denervation-induced skeletal muscle atrophy. In differentiated C2C12 myotubes, TGF-beta1 downregulated Sfrp2 expression on both mRNA and protein levels. Luciferase assays suggested that TGF-beta1-dependent downregulation of Sfrp2 was mediated at the promoter level through possible negative regulatory elements in the Sfrp2 promoter. I also observed that TGF-beta1-induced muscle atrophy was accompanied by transcriptional repression of myosin heavy chain genes. In contrast, TGF-beta1 did not increase proteasomal degradation of muscular proteins since gene expression of Tripartite motif containing 63 (Trim63) and F-box only protein (Fbxo32) was not upregulated; instead, they were slightly downregulated. TGF- beta1-induced differentiated C2C12 myotube atrophy was partially reversed by recombinant Sfrp2. This inhibitory effect could have resulted from direct interaction between Sfrp2 and TGF-beta1, since I found a physical interaction between these two proteins. Taken together, TGF-beta1 signaling pathway could play an important role in ICUAW via inhibition of myosin heavy chain expression. TGF-beta1-dependent downregulation of Sfrp2 may establish a feedback loop augmenting the atrophic effect of TGF-beta1.

L'adhérence, l'activation et l'agrégation des plaquettes sanguines sont essentielles à l'hémostase mais peuvent également conduire à la thrombose artérielle sur plaque d'athérosclérose, aujourd'hui première cause de mortalité dans le monde. Les anti-thrombotiques actuels, dirigés contre l'activation et l'agrégation plaquettaires, ont une efficacité reconnue mais ont pour inconvénient d'augmenter le risque de saignement. L'objectif de cette thèse a été d'explorer de nouvelles stratégies réduisant la thrombose tout en préservant l'hémostase. L'utilisation de souris modifiées génétiquement a mis en évidence que l'intégrine alpha6 beta1, impliquée dans l'adhérence des plaquettes aux laminines, joue un rôle critique en thrombose expérimentale mais pas en hémostase. De plus, nous avons montré dans un système de perfusion de sang qu'une protéine préférentiellement exprimée dans les plaques d'athérosclérose, la ténascine-C, permet l'adhérence et l'activation des plaquettes. En revanche, la beta-arrestine-1, une protéine de signalisation, ne contribue que modestement aux fonctions plaquettaires et à la thrombose. En conclusion, ce travail a permis de dégager deux nouvelles pistes anti-thrombotiques potentiellement capables de préserver l'hémostase, basées sur le ciblage de l'intégrine alpha6 beta1 ou de l'interaction plaquette/ténascine-C.