Cytological characteristics of premalignant cervical epithelial lesions in postmenopausal women based on endocrine indices and parakeratosis.

OBJECTIVE: To identify useful cytological findings for detecting premalignant lesions in postmenopausal women, cervicovaginal smear samples were analyzed and compared between women with or without premalignant lesions based on endocrine indices and presence of parakeratosis (PK). METHODS: The cervicovaginal smear samples of postmenopausal women with premalignant lesions (n = 94) and those who were without (n = 344), who were diagnosed between 2012 and 2014 were retrieved and analyzed. Women cytologically diagnosed with malignancy or those with suspicion of malignancy were excluded from this study. Cytological endocrine indices, such as the maturation index (MI) and eosinophilic index (EI) and the prevalence of PK were compared between the groups and analyzed using the 2 × 2 χ2 test. The association of endocrine indices combined with the presence of PK and histological findings was also evaluated. RESULTS: Postmenopausal women with premalignant lesions had higher endocrine indices (EI of ≥11%; 65% vs. 43%, P < 0.01, f = 0.18) and a higher prevalence of PK positivity (PK ≥ 1; 46% vs. 7%, P < 0.01, f = 0.44) than those without lesions. Further analysis indicated that the combination of high EI and the presence of PK in postmenopausal women with cytological premalignant cases was highly associated with histological squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL) (86% in women with premalignant lesions vs. 53% in those without; P = 0.01, f = 0.34). CONCLUSION: Our research demonstrated that high EI and PK positivity were correlated with SIL in postmenopausal women. These cytological findings could provide potential diagnostic clues for detecting dysplasia.

Co-expression of low-risk HPV E6/E7 and EBV LMP-1 leads to precancerous lesions by DNA damage.

BACKGROUND: Low-risk human papillomavirus (HPV), such as types 6 and 11, is considered non-oncogenic, but these types have been detected in oral cancer tissue samples, suggesting their possible involvement in oral carcinogenesis. Because double infection of high-risk HPV and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is known to be involved in oral carcinogenesis, we hypothesized that low-risk HPV and EBV co-infection can transform the oral cells. To verify our hypothesis, we evaluated the transformation activity of cell lines expressing both low-risk HPV E6/E7 and EBV LMP-1. METHODS: We transduced HPV6, 11 and 16 E6/E7 genes and EBV LMP-1 gene into primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts. The cell lines were examined for indices of transformation activity such as proliferation, induction of DNA damage, resistance to apoptosis, anchorage-independent growth, and tumor formation in nude mice. To evaluate the signaling pathways involved in transformation, NF-κB and p53 activities were analyzed. We also assessed adhesion signaling molecules associated with anchorage-independent growth such as MMP-2, paxillin and Cat-1. RESULTS: Co-expression of low-risk HPV6 E6 and EBV LMP-1 showed increased cell proliferation, elevated NF-κB activity and reduced p53 induction. Moreover, co-expression of low-risk HPV6 E6 and EBV LMP-1 induced DNA damage, escaped from apoptosis under genotoxic condition and suppression of DNA damage response (DDR). Co-expression of low-risk HPV11 E6/E7 and EBV LMP-1 demonstrated similar results. However, it led to no malignant characteristics such as anchorage-independent growth, invasiveness and tumor formation in nude mice. Compared with the cells co-expressing high-risk HPV16 E6 and EBV LMP-1 that induce transformation, co-expression of low-risk HPV6 E6 and EBV LMP-1 was associated with low MMP-2, paxillin and Cat-1 expression. CONCLUSIONS: The co-expression of low-risk HPV E6/E7 and EBV LMP-1 does not induce malignant transformation, but it allows accumulation of somatic mutations secondary to increased DNA damage and suppression of DDR. Thus, double infection of low-risk HPV and EBV could lead to precancerous lesions.

K1 gene transformation activities in AIDS-related and classic type Kaposi's sarcoma: Correlation with clinical presentation.

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) causes both AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and classic KS, but their clinical presentations are different, and respective mechanisms remain to be elucidated. The KSHV K1 gene is reportedly involved in tumorigenesis through the immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif (ITAM). Since we found the sequence variations in the K1 gene of KSHV isolated from AIDS-related KS and classic KS, we hypothesized that the transformation activity of the K1 gene contributes to the different clinical presentations. To evaluate our hypothesis, we compared the transformation activities of the K1 gene between AIDS-related KS and classic KS. We also analyzed ITAM activities and the downstream AKT and NF-κB. We found that the transformation activity of AIDS-related K1 was greater than that of classic K1, and that AIDS-related K1 induced higher ITAM activity than classic K1, causing more potent Akt and NF-κB activities. K1 downregulation by siRNA in AIDS-related K1 expressing cells induced a loss of transformation properties and decreased both Akt and NF-κB activities, suggesting a correlation between the transformation activity of K1 and ITAM signaling. Our study indicates that the increased transformation activity of AIDS-related K1 is associated with its clinical aggressiveness, whereas the weak transformation activity of classic type K1 is associated with a mild clinical presentation and spontaneous regression. The mechanism of spontaneous regression of classic KS may provide new therapeutic strategy to cancer.

A Liquid Chromatography with Tandem Mass Spectrometry-Based Proteomic Analysis of the Proteins Secreted by Human Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells.

Liquid chromatography using a tandem mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS) is a method of proteomic analysis. A shotgun analysis by LC-MS/MS comprehensively identifies proteins from tissues and cells with high resolution. The hepatic function of mice with acute hepatitis following the intraperitoneal administration of CCL4 was improved by the tail vein administration of the culture conditional medium (CM) of human mesenchymal stem cells from adipose tissue (hMSC-AT). In this study, a secreted protein expression analysis of hMSC-AT was performed using LC-MS/MS; 128 proteins were identified. LC-MS/MS showed that 106 new functional proteins and 22 proteins (FINC, PAI1, POSTN, PGS2, TIMP1, AMPN, CFAH, VIME, PEDF, SPRC, LEG1, ITGBL, ENOA, CSPG2, CLUS, IBP4, IBP7, PGS1, IBP2, STC2, CTHR1, CD9) were previously reported in hMSC-AT-CMs. In addition, various proteins associated with growth (SAP, SEM7A, PTK7); immune system processes (CO1A2, CO1A1, CATB, TSP1, GAS6, PTX3, C1 S, SEM7A, G3P, PXDN, SRCRL, CD248, SPON2, ENPP2, CD109, CFAB, CATL1, MFAP5, MIF, CXCL5, ADAM9, CATK); and reproduction (MMP2, CATB, FBLN1, SAP, MFGM, GDN, CYTC) were identified in hMSC-AT-CMs. These results indicate that a comprehensive expression analysis of proteins by LC-MS/MS is useful for investigating new factors associated with cellular components, biological processes, and molecular functions.

Molecular Signature of Tumors with Monoallelic 13q14 Deletion: a Case Series of Spindle Cell Lipoma and Genetically-Related Tumors Demonstrating a Link Between FOXO1 Status and p38 MAPK Pathway.

Spindle cell/pleomorphic lipomas (SCLs), cellular angiofibromas (CAFs) and mammary-type myofibroblastomas (MFBs) are rare benign mesenchymal tumors with monoallelic 13q14 deletion. They are predicted to have a common pathogenic mechanism due to shared similar histological and immunohistochemical features; however, pathological consequences of monoallelic 13q14 deletion remain unknown. We previously reported a CAF case with monoallelic 13q14 deletion in which the tumor expressed decreased levels of FOXO1 and RB1, both of which were encoded in 13q14, and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. We further demonstrated the activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) pathway induced by oxidative stress. We hypothesized that SCLs, CAFs and MFBs would share common molecular signatures involving FOXO1, ROS and p38 MAPK and that their expression patterns were different from those tumors without monoallelic 13q14 deletion such as solitary fibrous tumors (SFTs). We compared the expression levels of FOXO1, RB1, ROS markers and several signal transduction factors between SCLs and SFTs. SCLs expressed decreased levels of FOXO1 and RB1, whereas SFTs showed no change. Both tumor types exhibited increased markers of ROS; however, nuclear localization of phosphorylated p38 was significantly more frequent in SCLs than that in SFTs, suggesting p38 MAPK activation by oxidative stress. SFTs showed lower p38 MAPK activity and higher ß-catenin expression, implying that oxidative stress was caused by increased cellular proliferation stress. Finally, CAFs and MFBs showed changes similar to those observed in SCLs. Overall, tumors with monoallelic 13q14 deletion showed shared molecular signatures that might be associated with pathogenesis.

Cytokines in adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells promote the healing of liver disease.

Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) are a treatment cell source for patients with chronic liver injury. ADSCs are characterized by being harvested from the patient's own subcutaneous adipose tissue, a high cell yield (i.e., reduced immune rejection response), accumulation at a disease nidus, suppression of excessive immune response, production of various growth factors and cytokines, angiogenic effects, anti-apoptotic effects, and control of immune cells via cell-cell interaction. We previously showed that conditioned medium of ADSCs promoted hepatocyte proliferation and improved the liver function in a mouse model of acute liver failure. Furthermore, as found by many other groups, the administration of ADSCs improved liver tissue fibrosis in a mouse model of liver cirrhosis. A comprehensive protein expression analysis by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry showed that the various cytokines and chemokines produced by ADSCs promote the healing of liver disease. In this review, we examine the ability of expressed protein components of ADSCs to promote healing in cell therapy for liver disease. Previous studies demonstrated that ADSCs are a treatment cell source for patients with chronic liver injury. This review describes the various cytokines and chemokines produced by ADSCs that promote the healing of liver disease.