Deep learning-based quantification of NAFLD/NASH progression in human liver biopsies.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) affects about 24% of the world's population. Progression of early stages of NAFLD can lead to the more advanced form non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and ultimately to cirrhosis or liver cancer. The current gold standard for diagnosis and assessment of NAFLD/NASH is liver biopsy followed by microscopic analysis by a pathologist. The Kleiner score is frequently used for a semi-quantitative assessment of disease progression. In this scoring system the features of active injury (steatosis, inflammation, and ballooning) and a separated fibrosis score are quantified. The procedure is time consuming for pathologists, scores have limited resolution and are subject to variation. We developed an automated deep learning method that provides full reproducibility and higher resolution. The system was established with 296 human liver biopsies and tested on 171 human liver biopsies with pathologist ground truth scores. The method is inspired by the way pathologist's analyze liver biopsies. First, the biopsies are analyzed microscopically for the relevant histopathological features. Subsequently, histopathological features are aggregated to a per-biopsy score. Scores are in the identical numeric range as the pathologist's ballooning, inflammation, steatosis, and fibrosis scores, but on a continuous scale. Resulting scores followed a pathologist's ground truth (quadratic weighted Cohen's κ on the test set: for steatosis 0.66, for inflammation 0.24, for ballooning 0.43, for fibrosis 0.62, and for the NAFLD activity score (NAS) 0.52. Mean absolute errors on a test set: for steatosis 0.29, for inflammation 0.53, for ballooning 0.61, for fibrosis 0.78, and for the NAS 0.77).

Next-generation insights into regulatory T cells: expression profiling and FoxP3 occupancy in Human.

Regulatory T-cells (Treg) play an essential role in the negative regulation of immune answers by developing an attenuated cytokine response that allows suppressing proliferation and effector function of T-cells (CD4(+) Th). The transcription factor FoxP3 is responsible for the regulation of many genes involved in the Treg gene signature. Its ablation leads to severe immune deficiencies in human and mice. Recent developments in sequencing technologies have revolutionized the possibilities to gain insights into transcription factor binding by ChiP-seq and into transcriptome analysis by mRNA-seq. We combine FoxP3 ChiP-seq and mRNA-seq in order to understand the transcriptional differences between primary human CD4(+) T helper and regulatory T-cells, as well as to study the role of FoxP3 in generating those differences. We show, that mRNA-seq allows analyzing the transcriptomal landscape of T-cells including the expression of specific splice variants at much greater depth than previous approaches, whereas 50% of transcriptional regulation events have not been described before by using diverse array technologies. We discovered splicing patterns like the expression of a kinase-dead isoform of IRAK1 upon T-cell activation. The immunoproteasome is up-regulated in both Treg and CD4(+) Th cells upon activation, whereas the 'standard' proteasome is up-regulated in Tregs only upon activation.

EGFL6 is increasingly expressed in human obesity and promotes proliferation of adipose tissue-derived stromal vascular cells.

With increasing rates of obesity driving the incidence of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases to epidemic levels, understanding of the biology of adipose tissue expansion is a focus of current research. Identification and characterization of secreted proteins of the adipose tissue could provide further insights into the function of adipose tissue and might help to therapeutically influence the development of obesity and associated metabolic disorders. In the present study, we identified human epidermal growth factor-like domain multiple-6 (EGFL6) as an adipose tissue-secreted protein. EGFL6 expression in human subcutaneous adipose tissue significantly increased with obesity and decreased after weight loss. Further, expression and secretion of EGFL6 increased with in vitro differentiation of human preadipocytes, suggesting that mature adipocytes are the main source of EGFL6. Containing epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like repeats, an Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) integrin binding motif and a mephrin, A5 protein and receptor protein-tyrosine phosphatase mu (MAM) domain, EGFL6 was suggested to be an extra-cellular matrix protein. Recombinant human EGFL6 protein mediated cell adhesion of human adipose tissue-derived stromal vascular cells (AD-SVC) in an RGD-dependent manner. FACS analyses revealed specific binding of the protein to the cell surface of AD-SVC with the binding being predominantly mediated by the EGF-like repeats. Recombinant EGFL6 enhanced proliferation of human AD-SVC as measured by MTS assay and [(14)C]-thymidine incorporation. These results indicate that human EGFL6 is a paracrine/autocrine growth factor of adipose tissue up-regulated in obesity and potentially involved in the process of adipose tissue expansion and the development of obesity.

miR-155 inhibition sensitizes CD4+ Th cells for TREG mediated suppression.

BACKGROUND: In humans and mice naturally occurring CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells (nTregs) are a thymus-derived subset of T cells, crucial for the maintenance of peripheral tolerance by controlling not only potentially autoreactive T cells but virtually all cells of the adaptive and innate immune system. Recent work using Dicer-deficient mice irrevocably demonstrated the importance of miRNAs for nTreg cell-mediated tolerance. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: DNA-Microarray analyses of human as well as murine conventional CD4(+) Th cells and nTregs revealed a strong up-regulation of mature miR-155 (microRNA-155) upon activation in both populations. Studying miR-155 expression in FoxP3-deficient scurfy mice and performing FoxP3 ChIP-Seq experiments using activated human T lymphocytes, we show that the expression and maturation of miR-155 seem to be not necessarily regulated by FoxP3. In order to address the functional relevance of elevated miR-155 levels, we transfected miR-155 inhibitors or mature miR-155 RNAs into freshly-isolated human and mouse primary CD4(+) Th cells and nTregs and investigated the resulting phenotype in nTreg suppression assays. Whereas miR-155 inhibition in conventional CD4(+) Th cells strengthened nTreg cell-mediated suppression, overexpression of mature miR-155 rendered these cells unresponsive to nTreg cell-mediated suppression. CONCLUSION: Investigation of FoxP3 downstream targets, certainly of bound and regulated miRNAs revealed the associated function between the master regulator FoxP3 and miRNAs as regulators itself. miR-155 is shown to be crucially involved in nTreg cell mediated tolerance by regulating the susceptibility of conventional human as well as murine CD4(+) Th cells to nTreg cell-mediated suppression.

Tumor stroma marker endosialin (Tem1) is a binding partner of metastasis-related protein Mac-2 BP/90K.

Tumor development involves complex bidirectional interactions between tumor cells and host stromal cells. Endosialin (Tem1) has been identified as a highly O-glycosylated transmembrane glycoprotein, which is specifically expressed by tumor vessel-associated pericytes and stromal fibroblasts of a wide range of human tumors. Recent experiments in endosialin-deficient mice have unraveled a critical role of endosialin in site-specific tumor progression and metastasis. To molecularly understand the mechanisms of endosialin function, we aimed to identify extracellular endosialin ligands and identified Mac-2 BP/90K as a specific interaction partner. Detailed biochemical analyses identified a C-terminal fragment of Mac-2 BP/90K, which was shown to contain binding sites for galectin-3, and collagens as the structures responsible for endosialin binding. Subsequent expression analysis of Mac-2 BP/90K in vivo revealed weak or no expression in most normal tissues and strong up-regulation in tumor cells of human neoplastic tissues. Intriguingly, the expression patterns of Mac-2 BP/90K and endosialin were mutually exclusive in all human tissues. Correspondingly, loss-of-function adhesion experiments of Mac-2 BP/90K-expressing tumor cells on endosialin-expressing fibroblasts revealed a repulsive outcome of the Mac-2 BP/90K interaction. Taken together, the experiments identify a novel repulsive interaction between endosialin on stromal fibroblasts and Mac-2 BP/90K on tumor cells.

Short-term intra-arterial infusion of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 results in sustained collateral artery growth.

Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) is a stimulator of collateral artery growth and has been shown to increase collateral artery conductance in rabbits and pigs. The minimal infusion duration and the minimally effective dose of MCP-1 are currently unknown, as is the sustainability of the therapeutic effect over a longer observation period than tested before. MCP-1 was infused intra-arterially in pigs after unilateral femoral artery occlusion in different doses and infusion durations between 2 hours and 2 weeks. Two weeks after ligation, arterial conductance under maximal vasodilatation was measured. The long-term efficacy was investigated in 2 additional groups of animals after 6 weeks. Infusion with 2 microg/min of MCP-1 for 6 hours was sufficient to double arterial conductance, and arterial conductance after 6 weeks was still significantly increased.

FPRL-1 induces modifications of migration-associated proteins in human neutrophils.

Human polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) are an important cell population of the innate immune system, which migrates following concentration gradients of chemokines or chemoattractants to locations of infection and inflammation in order to eliminate invading microorganisms and cell debris. For both migration and adhesion of PMNs to various tissues, the dynamic remodeling of the cytoskeleton is key prerequisite. In this context, the formyl peptide receptor-like 1 (FPRL-1) is an important chemoattractant receptor expressed on PMNs. In this study, we show that a short stimulation of FPRL-1 with either a synthetic peptide ligand (W-peptide) or a natural ligand (sCKbeta8-1) changes the protein pattern of PMNs as assessed by 2-D-DIGE. MS analysis of selected deregulated protein species resulted in the identification of proteins that are involved in the remodeling process of the actin- and tubulin-based cytoskeleton, such as L-plastin, moesin, cofilin, and stathmin. Subsequent validation experiments performed either by Western blotting or phosphoprotein-specific gel staining (Pro-Q Diamond) revealed that L-plastin is phosphorylated, whereas moesin, cofilin, and stathmin are dephosphorylated in PMNs upon FPRL-1 stimulation. These findings suggest that FPRL-1 signaling targets proteins that regulate the motility of PMNs and moreover show that 2-D-DIGE is a technique capable of detecting and quantifying differently modified (e.g., phosphorylated) protein variants.

In vivo human MCP-1 transfection in porcine arteries by intravascular electroporation.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop a nonviral gene transfer method for therapeutic delivery of the human monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) in patients with peripheral artery disease, using local catheter-mediated electrotransfer of naked plasmid DNA into arteries. METHODS: Arterial walls of the A. profunda femoris of pigs were transfected either with a human MCP-1 or with a firefly luciferase-encoding DNA construct. The efficacy of electrotransfer of DNA was analyzed after 2 days by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or luciferase activity measurements. To optimize MCP-1 gene transfer conditions, a voltage range of 60-150 V was applied as a train of six square pulses of 20 ms each at 1 Hz and was combined with a dose of 150 microg DNA. Subsequently, the optimized voltage was used to test a dose range of 80-300 microg DNA. RESULTS: The voltage optimum for arterial transfection was observed at 80 volts. Using this setting, the dose application of 300 microg MCP-1 plasmid DNA (the maximal dose tested) demonstrated the highest MCP-1 expression signal. The electric pulses and the transfer and expression of human MCP-1 per se did not induce endogenous porcine MCP-1 expression in treated arteries. Interestingly, angioplastic predilation of the artery before gene transfer, which had originally been postulated to enhance transfection by improving access of the plasmid to subendothelial cell layers, resulted in an attenuated transfection efficacy. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrates that transluminal catheter-based electroporation provides an efficient technology for nonviral intravascular gene transfer by just applying unformulated DNA.

Proteomic study of human bronchoalveolar lavage fluids from smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by combining surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry profiling with mass spectrometric protein identification.

Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) is an important diagnostic source to investigate cellular and molecular changes in the course of lung disorders. The pattern of soluble proteins in BALF obtained from patients at different stages of respiratory disorders may provide deeper insights in the molecular mechanisms of the disease. We used surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MS) for differential protein display combined with reversed-phase chromatography and subsequent matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-MS or nanoliquid chromatography MS/MS analysis for protein identification to compare the protein pattern of BALF samples obtained from ten smokers suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), eight clinically asymptomatic smokers, and eight nonsmokers without pulmonary disease. In this context, we were able to identify small proteins and peptides, either differentially expressed or secreted in the course of COPD or in a direct response to cigarette smoke. The concentrations of neutrophil defensins 1 and 2, S100A8 (calgranulin A), and S100A9 (calgranulin B) were elevated in BALFs of smokers with COPD when compared to asymptomatic smokers. Increased concentrations in S100A8 (Calgranulin A), salivary proline-rich peptide P-C, and lysozyme C were detected in BALFs of asymptomatic smokers when compared to nonsmokers, whereas salivary proline-rich peptide P-D and Clara cell phospholipid-binding protein (CC10) were reduced in their concentration. The identified proteins and peptides might be useful in the future as diagnostic markers for smoke-induced lung irritations and COPD.

Human primary co-culture angiogenesis assay reveals additive stimulation and different angiogenic properties of VEGF and HGF.

Therapeutic angiogenesis aims to induce blood vessel growth in acute or chronic ischemic tissues and has gained tremendous interest over the last years. To study factors and combinations thereof that potentially induce or modify angiogenesis and to evaluate their therapeutic potential, various in vitro assays have been developed. Although endothelial cells have attracted most attention in these assays, they alone cannot complete vessel maturation since extracellular matrix (ECM) components and mesenchymal cells also play an important role in vascular development. To address this complexity we focussed on a human co-culture angiogenesis assay comprising primary endothelial cells as well as primary ECM-producing fibroblasts. In this assay HGF and VEGF as single factors and combined were tested for the potential to induce an angiogenic response, which was detected by image analysis assessing the area, length and branches of the formed vascular structures. The results show that the cytokines HGF and VEGF both promote angiogenesis in this co-culture assay by inducing distinguishable patterns of vascular structures. VEGF increases the length, area and branch point number of induced vessels whereas HGF mediates exclusively vascular area growth resulting in vascular structures of enlarged diameter. Moreover, the combination of both cytokines results in an additive increase of vascular diameter.

Stabilized nonviral formulations for the delivery of MCP-1 gene into cells of the vasculoendothelial system.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop a stabilized non-viral gene transfer system for the efficient delivery and expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) gene in cells of the vasculoendothelial system. METHODS: Plasmid DNA was condensed with polyethylenimine (PEI), conjugates of PEI with polyethylene glycol (PEG), and PEI conjugates with the membrane-active peptide melittin. Surface charge and particle size of the resulting gene transfer particles were analyzed by laser light scattering. Reporter gene studies and toxicity assays were conducted on smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells of human, porcine, or rat origin. RESULTS: Nonviral gene carriers containing PEI and PEG were developed that could be produced in batches of several milligrams and conveniently stored as frozen samples. Incorporation of PEG into the transfection complex significantly reduced cellular toxicity. The cryoconserved gene transfer particles mediated high expression of luciferase, enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP), or secreted alkaline phosphatase reporter genes. Highest reporter gene expression was achieved with PEI polyplexes containing PEG and melittin. The gene for MCP-1 was efficiently delivered into target cells and resulted in expression of up to 125 ng/ml secreted bioactive MCP-1 protein per 50,000 cells. CONCLUSIONS: Gene carriers based on PEI and PEG display reduced toxicity, can be stored in frozen form without loss of biological activity, and can efficiently transfect cells of the vasculoendothelial system. Such gene carriers hold a potential for use in arterial gene transfer and local secretion of MCP-1 as trigger of therapeutic arteriogenesis in arterial occlusion diseases.