Despite recent advances in oncology and extensive research efforts, gliomas remain essentially incurable. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM, WHO grade IV) is the most common glioma and may arise de novo or progress from a lower-grade lesion. GBM is characterized by invasive growth, aberrant angiogenesis and necrosis. The heterogeneity of GBM is further complicated by the contribution of the inflammation that is facilitated by immune cells that reside in and infiltrate this immuno-privileged organ. One of the cells types present in the tumor microenvironment are mast cells (MC) that accumulate in the tumor in a grade-dependent manner. GBM cells secrete a plethora of cytokines acting as chemoattractants in MC recruitment and to a lesser degree induce MC proliferation in situ. Expression of one of the cytokines secreted by GBM cells - macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) - correlates with MC accumulation in vivo. GBM cells invade the surrounding parenchyma making complete resection impossible. Here, migration was studied with the focus on RAP1 and its negative regulator RAP1GAP. Activation of RAP1 signaling by lentiviral silencing of RAP1GAP lead to decrease in cell migration and a shift in expression of SOX2 and GFAP, presumably enhancing stem cell phenotype. MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs known to regulate the mRNA network. miR-21 is highly overexpressed in the majority of cancers including GBM. Its expression is strictly regulated during embryonic development of the brain. SOX2 is co-regulated with miR-21 demarcating a cell population with neural/glial progenitor/stem cell properties. In an experimental mouse model, expression of miR-21 can be sustained by forced expression of PDGF-BB leading to gliomagenesis. GBM cells seem to be addicted to oncogenic properties of miR-21 as its knockdown leads to extensive apoptosis. This observation combined with the fact that miR-21 is absent in the normal adult mammalian brain suggest miR-21 to be an excellent therapeutic target. Effects of conventional therapy (surgery combined with radiochemotherapy) on prolonging patient survival have reached a plateau. New effective personalized therapeutic modalities need to be designed and implemented. Targeting the tumor microenvironment as well as cell intrinsic properties like invasive potential, stemness and onco-miR addiction studied in this thesis will hopefully lead to efficient disruption of GBM’s aberrant ecosystem.

Konstanz, Univ., Diplomarb., 2006.

Thesis--Münster. / Includes bibliographical references.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2003--München.

University, Diss., 2002--Heidelberg.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2004--Heidelberg.

Techn. Universiẗat, Diss., 2005--Berlin.

The aim of these studies was to identify circulating miRNAs that can be used as biomarkers in patients with paracetamol-induced liver injury. Whether the miRNAs discovered in humans could be back-translated to zebrafish with the aim of developing a liver toxicity model to replace rodent use was also investigated. First, the miRNA signature of DILI induced by paracetamol was defined. Plasma miRNAs were quantified in paracetamol overdose patients. A signature of 16 miRNAs was discovered that best separated patients with liver injury from those without liver injury. This signature was tested in a second cohort and resulted in the detection of paracetamol-induced liver injury with high specificity and sensitivity. At first presentation to hospital miR-122-5p was the most sensitive single miRNA and superior to ALT activity in predicting liver injury. In order to further qualify miR-122-5p, three detailed studies relevant to possible clinical scenarios were performed. The effect of acute alcohol ingestion (commonly co-ingested with paracetamol overdose) on circulating concentrations of miR-122-5p in healthy volunteers was investigated. Alcohol ingestion induced a small, non-clinically relevant, increase in miR-122-5p. The effect of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and haemodialysis (HD) on circulating miR-122-5p concentrations was explored because kidney dysfunction has been associated with a reduction in the concentration of circulating miRNAs. HD patients had lower concentrations of miR- 122-5p compared to healthy volunteers and CKD patients. To facilitate miRNA measurement outwith hospitals, miR-122-5p was measured in a blood drop from a finger prick. miR-122-5p was readily measurable in finger prick samples and concentrations were significantly higher in the blood drop from DILI patients compared with healthy volunteers. To complement miR-122-5p as a marker of toxicity, circulating paracetamol metabolites were measured in plasma samples from paracetamol overdose patients. A higher percentage of circulating metabolites formed by cytochrome P450 enzymes were present in patients with liver injury and these metabolites were superior to both ALT and paracetamol concentration with regard to early patient stratification. To reduce need for rodent studies, miRNAs were back-translated into zebrafish. In order to study circulating miR-122-5p in adult zebrafish, a bloodletting method by collecting blood retro-orbitally was developed. After studying different dosing regimens of paracetamol in adult and larvae zebrafish the model was determined to be too variable with regard to liver injury. A new drug, triptolide, originating from traditional Chinese medicine and responsible for DILI in China, was tested as an alternative model for drug-induced liver injury in zebrafish larvae. miRNA-122-5p decreased in zebrafish larvae after triptolide treatment and triptolide-induced liver injury could be tracked by fluorescent microscopy. Selective plane illumination microscopy was able to track the decrease in liver volume during triptolide exposure. In order to identify the toxic pathways involved in triptolide-induced liver injury, RNA-sequencing was performed. This identified KEGG pathways including ribosome, spliceosome and notch signalling as pathways affected by triptolide. In summary, miRNAs can be used as highly sensitive biomarkers to detect acute liver injury in patients and zebrafish. Zebrafish may represent an alternative model species to study DILI, further work is needed.

MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNA molecules with length of about 22 nt. These molecules participate on regulation of gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. They represent the largest group of regulators in the cell and therefore are also involved in all key processes such as proliferation, differentiation or apoptosis. Moreover, they participate in tumor transformation. These small molecules have a great potential to be diagnostic markers or assist in the treatment and prevention of diseases. This research was focused on the development of isolation method using magnetic particles with subsequent electrochemical detection of microRNA. Optimization steps were performed and then the entire method was successfully applied to real samples of HEK293 cells expressing increased levels of miR-124. The developed method proved to be sufficiently specific and applicable to the analysis of microRNA.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T18:04:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo212_1.pdf: 2637300 bytes, checksum: 3480fbb211fbbb9df39dab409c601c88 (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Universidade Federal de Pernambuco / Neste trabalho, foram construídos modelos empíricos multivariados empregando a espectroscopia MIR associada à calibração multivariada para determinação das propriedades mecânicas resistência à tração na ruptura (), módulo de elasticidade (E) e percentual de alongamento (%) do poliéster poli(tereftalato de etileno)-PET. As amostras de filmes de PET (92) foram coletadas de uma indústria de Pernambuco e submetidas a ensaios mecânicos na máquina universal de ensaio (método de referência). Com o objetivo de ampliar as faixas de variação destas propriedades, 48 destas amostras foram expostas à radiação gama nas doses de 25, 60, 120, 240 e 500 kGy. Os espectros foram obtidos pelas técnicas de transmissão direta (TD) e reflexão total atenuada (ATR), utilizando um espectrofotômetro FTIR, na faixa espectral de 600-4000 cm-1, com resolução de 4,0 cm-1 e 8 varreduras. Os espectros foram submetidos a diversos pré-processamentos como suavização e derivadas pelo algoritmo Savitzy-Golay (SG), empregando-se diferentes tamanhos de janelas; variação normal padrão (SNV-Standard Normal Variate) e correção multiplicativa do sinal (MSC-Multiplicative Scatter Correction), como também combinações de algumas destas. Foram desenvolvidos modelos por Regressão por Mínimos Quadrados Parciais (PLS - Partial Least Squares), utilizando o algoritmo Jack-Knife para seleção dos fatores e por Regressão Linear Múltipla (MLR Multiple Linear Regression), empregando o Algoritmo das Projeções Sucessivas (SPA Sucessive Projection Algorithm) para seleção das variáveis espectrais. Para escolha do número de fatores (PLS) ou variáveis (MLR-SPA) foi usado a validação cruzada completa e para seleção dos conjuntos de calibração e validação externa foi empregado o algoritmo SPXY (Sample set Partitioning based on joint x-y distances). A capacidade preditiva dos modelos PLS e MLR foi avaliada de acordo com os erros de previsão (RMSEP) para o conjunto de validação externa. Sendo assim, os modelos construídos apresentaram desempenho semelhante para a, visto que os valores do RMSEP foram equivalentes à estimativa da repetitividade do método convencional. Para o módulo de elasticidade, apenas os modelos com espectros após derivação SG e combinação da derivada SG e SNV tiveram capacidade preditiva satisfatória para as técnicas de ATR e TD, respectivamente. Já para o %não foi possível a construção de modelos com as técnicas utilizadas. Portanto, a espectroscopia MIR associada à calibração multivariada mostrou-se eficiente para previsão dae E do PET, com erros de previsão equivalentes à repetitividade do ensaio convencional