Browsing by Author "Wang, Yong"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Contributions of inflammation and tumor microenvironment to neurofibroma tumorigenesis
    (American Society for Clinical Investigation, 2018-07-02) Liao, Chung-Ping; Booker, Reid C.; Brosseau, Jean-Philippe; Chen, Zhiguo; Mo, Juan; Tchegnon, Edem; Wang, Yong; Clapp, D. Wade; Le, Lu Q.; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Neurofibromatosis type 1 associates with multiple neoplasms, and the Schwann cell tumor neurofibroma is the most prevalent. A hallmark feature of neurofibroma is mast cell infiltration, which is recruited by chemoattractant stem cell factor (SCF) and has been suggested to sustain neurofibroma tumorigenesis. In the present study, we use new, genetically engineered Scf mice to decipher the contributions of tumor-derived SCF and mast cells to neurofibroma development. We demonstrate that mast cell infiltration is dependent on SCF from tumor Schwann cells. However, removal of mast cells by depleting the main SCF source only slightly affects neurofibroma progression. Other inflammation signatures show that all neurofibromas are associated with high levels of macrophages regardless of Scf status. These findings suggest an active inflammation in neurofibromas and partly explain why mast cell removal alone is not sufficient to relieve tumor burden in this experimental neurofibroma model. Furthermore, we show that plexiform neurofibromas are highly associated with injury-prone spinal nerves that are close to flexible vertebras. In summary, our study details the role of inflammation in neurofibromagenesis. Our data indicate that prevention of inflammation and possibly also nerve injury at the observed tumor locations are therapeutic approaches for neurofibroma prophylaxis and that such treatment should be explored.
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    Inactivation of Sox9 in fibroblasts reduces cardiac fibrosis and inflammation
    (American Society for Clinical Investigation, 2019-07-16) Scharf, Gesine M.; Kilian, Katja; Cordero, Julio; Wang, Yong; Grund, Andrea; Hofmann, Melanie; Froese, Natali; Wang, Xue; Kispert, Andreas; Kist, Ralf; Conway, Simon J.; Geffers, Robert; Wollert, Kai C.; Dobreva, Gergana; Bauersachs, Johann; Heineke, Joerg; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Fibrotic scarring drives the progression of heart failure after myocardial infarction (MI). Therefore, the development of specific treatment regimens to counteract fibrosis is of high clinical relevance. The transcription factor SOX9 functions as an important regulator during embryogenesis, but recent data point towards an additional causal role in organ fibrosis. We show here that SOX9 is upregulated in the scar after MI in mice. Fibroblast specific deletion of Sox9 ameliorated MI-induced left ventricular dysfunction, dilatation and myocardial scarring in vivo. Unexpectedly, deletion of Sox9 also potently eliminated persisting leukocyte infiltration of the scar in the chronic phase after MI. RNA-sequencing from the infarct scar revealed that Sox9 deletion in fibroblasts resulted in strongly downregulated expression of genes related to extracellular matrix, proteolysis and inflammation. Importantly, Sox9 deletion in isolated cardiac fibroblasts in vitro similarly affected gene expression as in the cardiac scar and reduced fibroblast proliferation, migration and contraction capacity. Together, our data demonstrate that fibroblast SOX9 functions as a master regulator of cardiac fibrosis and inflammation and might constitute a novel therapeutic target during MI.
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    Meteorin-like promotes heart repair through endothelial KIT receptor tyrosine kinase
    (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2022) Reboll, Marc R.; Klede, Stefanie; Taft, Manuel H.; Cai, Chen-Leng; Field, Loren J.; Lavine, Kory J.; Koenig, Andrew L.; Fleischauer, Jenni; Meyer, Johann; Schambach, Axel; Niessen, Hans W.; Kosanke, Maike; van den Heuvel, Joop; Pich, Andreas; Bauersachs, Johann; Wu, Xuekun; Zheng, Linqun; Wang, Yong; Korf-Klingebiel, Mortimer; Polten, Felix; Wollert, Kai C.; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Effective tissue repair after myocardial infarction entails a vigorous angiogenic response, guided by incompletely defined immune cell-endothelial cell interactions. We identify the monocyte- and macrophage-derived cytokine METRNL (meteorin-like) as a driver of postinfarction angiogenesis and high-affinity ligand for the stem cell factor receptor KIT (KIT receptor tyrosine kinase). METRNL mediated angiogenic effects in cultured human endothelial cells through KIT-dependent signaling pathways. In a mouse model of myocardial infarction, METRNL promoted infarct repair by selectively expanding the KIT-expressing endothelial cell population in the infarct border zone. Metrnl-deficient mice failed to mount this KIT-dependent angiogenic response and developed severe postinfarction heart failure. Our data establish METRNL as a KIT receptor ligand in the context of ischemic tissue repair.
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    Schwannoma development is mediated by Hippo pathway dysregulation and modified by RAS/MAPK signaling
    (ASCI, 2020-10-15) Chen, Zhiguo; Li, Stephen; Mo, Juan; Hawley, Eric; Wang, Yong; He, Yongzheng; Brosseau, Jean-Philippe; Shipman, Tracey; Clapp, D. Wade; Carroll, Thomas J.; Le, Lu Q.; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Schwannomas are tumors of the Schwann cells that cause chronic pain, numbness, and potentially life-threatening impairment of vital organs. Despite the identification of causative genes, including NF2 (Merlin), INI1/SMARCB1, and LZTR1, the exact molecular mechanism of schwannoma development is still poorly understood. Several studies have identified Merlin as a key regulator of the Hippo, MAPK, and PI3K signaling pathways; however, definitive evidence demonstrating the importance of these pathways in schwannoma pathogenesis is absent. Here, we provide direct genetic evidence that dysregulation of the Hippo pathway in the Schwann cell lineage causes development of multiple schwannomas in mice. We found that canonical Hippo signaling through the effectors YAP/TAZ is required for schwannomagenesis and that MAPK signaling modifies schwannoma formation. Furthermore, cotargeting YAP/TAZ transcriptional activity and MAPK signaling demonstrated a synergistic therapeutic effect on schwannomas. Our new model provides a tractable platform to dissect the molecular mechanisms underpinning schwannoma formation and the role of combinatorial targeted therapy in schwannoma treatment.