Project description:Introduction: Pleural mesothelioma (PM) is known as one of the most aggressive malignancies among all cancers, despite of usually absent tumor-driver mutations in oncogenes. It develops in a unique inflammatory tumor microenvironment (TME), which has been postulated as major contributor of PM’s highly aggressive nature. Mesothelioma-associated fibroblasts (Meso-CAFs), a main component of the TME have recently been shown to substantially stimulate several aspects of PM aggressiveness and promote the malignant transformation of pleural mesothelial cells. However, respective cell models for TME research in PM are still very limited. The most commonly used pleural mesothelial cell line Met5A has been established decades ago and patient-derived Meso-CAFs have just recently been characterized for the first time. The aim of the current study was to generate and characterize pleural mesothelial and Meso-CAF cell models with an extended life span that closely resemble the primary cells isolated from human tissue. Methods: Pleural mesothelial cells and Meso-CAFs were isolated from human tissue of pneumothorax and PM patients, respectively. Retroviral transduction was used to induce stable expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) and enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) in the primary cells. The established cell models were evaluated by measuring their doubling times, gene expression and protein activity levels of hTERT, as well as the absolute lengths of telomeres. The transduced cells were compared to their primary counterparts on the protein level using proteome analysis and the impact of their conditioned media (CM) on tumor cell growth was investigated by videomicroscopy. Results: All transduced derivatives exhibit elevated hTERT gene expression and protein activity, increased hTERT protein amounts in the nucleus, and moderately higher absolute telomere lengths compared to their parental primary cells. The transduction with hTERT did not elicit marked changes in the morphology of the cells, as well as in their proteomes and secretomes. The CM of primary and hTERT-transduced Meso-CAFs comparably stimulated PM cell growth, while medium conditioned by normal pleural mesothelial cells including their hTERT-transduced derivatives was not able to induce a growth stimulating effect. Conclusion: The hTERT-transduced cells closely resemble their primary counterparts, while retaining telomerase activity, thus preventing replicative senescence. The new cell models provide valuable tools for the investigation of cellular interactions cellular interactions within the TME of PM and thus may help to identify novel biomarkers for early diagnosis and to develop new therapeutic strategies.

Project description:Introduction: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive malignancy with poor prognosis. Unlike many other cancers, MPM is mostly characterized by inactivation of tumor suppressor genes. Its highly malignant nature in absence of tumor driving oncogene mutations indicates an extrinsic supply of stimulating signals by cells of the tumor microenvironment (TME). Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are an abundant cell type of the TME and have been shown to drive the progression of several cancer types. The aim of the current study was to isolate and characterize patient-derived mesothelioma-associated fibroblasts (Meso-CAFs), and evaluate their impact on MPM cells. Methods: Meso-CAFs were isolated from surgical specimens of MPM patients and analyzed by comparative genomic hybridization, transcriptomics and proteomics. Human MPM cell lines were retrovirally transduced with GFP. The impact of Meso-CAFs on tumor cell growth, migration, and response to pathway inhibitors and cisplatin was investigated in 2D and 3D co-culture models by videomicroscopy and automated image analysis. Results: Meso-CAFs possess normal genomes without gene copy number aberrations typical for MPM cells. They express CAF markers and lack MPM marker expression. Their proteome and secretome profiles clearly differ from normal lung fibroblasts with particularly strong differences in the fraction of actively secreted proteins. The presence of Meso-CAFs in co-culture resulted in increased proliferation and migration of MPM cells. A similar effect on cell growth was induced by conditioned medium. Met/PI3K or WNT signaling inhibition abolished the Meso-CAF-mediated growth stimulation. While Meso-CAFs reduced the efficacy of EGFR inhibition in co-cultures, they did not provide protection of tumor cells against cisplatin. Conclusion: Our study provides the first characterization of human patient-derived Meso-CAFs and demonstrates a strong impact of Meso-CAFs on tumor cell growth and migration, two key aspects of MPM aggressiveness, indicating a substantial role of Meso-CAFs in driving MPM progression. Moreover, we show that Meso-CAFs significantly influence drug response and identify signaling pathways required for Meso-CAF-mediated growth stimulation. These data could be relevant for improving therapeutic strategies in MPM.

Project description:Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is the worldwide recognized preferred dialysis treatment for children affected by end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). However, due to the unphysiological composition of PD fluids, the peritoneal membrane (PM) of these patients may undergo structural and functional alterations, which may cause fibrosis. Several factors may accelerate this process and primary kidney disease may have a causative role. In particular, patients affected by corticoresistant primary focal segmental glomerulosclerosis), a rare glomerular disease leading to nephrotic syndrome and ESKD, seem more prone to develop peritoneal fibrosis. The mechanism causing this predisposition is still unrecognized. To better define this condition, we carried out, for the first time, a new comprehensive comparative proteomic mass spectrometry analysis of mesothelial exosomes from peritoneal dialysis effluent (PDE) of 6 pediatric patients with focal segmental glomerular sclerosis (FSGS) versus 6 patients affected by other primary renal diseases (No FSGS). Our omic study demonstrated that, despite the high overlap in the protein milieu between the two study groups, machine learning allowed a complete distinction of the whole proteomic exosome mesothelial content of FSGS versus No FSGS (with 100% accuracy). Out of the 2490 identified proteins, 40% (995) were involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)/fibrosis and in the transforming growth factor-β pathway. Additionally, the Weight Gene Co-expression Network Analysis algorithm identified that some of the discriminative proteins (TIMP1, CTHRC1, SPARC, CHMP4B, COL5A2, ANXA13, FNC2 and CENP-E) were also highly correlated to PD vintage, fibrosis, EMT and non-neoplastic PM disease. All together our data demonstrated that mesothelial cells of FSGS patients are more prone to activate a pro-fibrotic machinery with exosomes having a primary role in this process. Moreover, they indicated that identified FSGS-associated elements in mesothelial exosome protein could be employed as potential new biomarkers of mesothelial integrity. Finally, our results highlighted that in FSGS patients particular attention should be paid to use more biocompatible dialysis solution, reduce the length of time on PD and personalize PD regimens to minimize the risk of rapid loss of PM function or development of encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis.

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	23-Prot-0019_RC3_1_12014.d.rar	Other
	23-Prot-0019_RC3_1_12026.d.rar	Other
	23-Prot-0020_RC4_1_12015.d.rar	Other
	23-Prot-0020_RC4_1_12027.d.rar	Other
	23-Prot-0021_RC5_1_12016.d.rar	Other

Dataset Information

Primary and hTERT-transduced mesothelioma-associated fibroblasts but not primary or hTERT-transduced mesothelial cells stimulate growth of human mesothelioma cells_Secreted proteins

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Primary and hTERT-Transduced Mesothelioma-Associated Fibroblasts but Not Primary or hTERT-Transduced Mesothelial Cells Stimulate Growth of Human Mesothelioma Cells.

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