@article{PachelMathesBayeretal.2013, author = {Pachel, Christina and Mathes, Denise and Bayer, Barbara and Dienesch, Charlotte and Wangorsch, Gaby and Heitzmann, Wolfram and Lang, Isabell and Ardehali, Hossein and Ertl, Georg and Dandekar, Thomas and Wajant, Harald and Frantz, Stefan}, title = {Exogenous Administration of a Recombinant Variant of TWEAK Impairs Healing after Myocardial Infarction by Aggravation of Inflammation}, series = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {8}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, number = {11}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0078938}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-129889}, pages = {e78938}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Background: Tumor necrosis factor-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) and its receptor fibroblast growth factorinducible 14 (Fn14) are upregulated after myocardial infarction (MI) in both humans and mice. They modulate inflammation and the extracellular matrix, and could therefore be important for healing and remodeling after MI. However, the function of TWEAK after MI remains poorly defined. Methods and results: Following ligation of the left coronary artery, mice were injected twice per week with a recombinant human serum albumin conjugated variant of TWEAK (HSA-Flag-TWEAK), mimicking the activity of soluble TWEAK. Treatment with HSA-Flag-TWEAK resulted in significantly increased mortality in comparison to the placebo group due to myocardial rupture. Infarct size, extracellular matrix remodeling, and apoptosis rates were not different after MI. However, HSA-Flag-TWEAK treatment increased infiltration of proinflammatory cells into the myocardium. Accordingly, depletion of neutrophils prevented cardiac ruptures without modulating all-cause mortality. Conclusion: Treatment of mice with HSA-Flag-TWEAK induces myocardial healing defects after experimental MI. This is mediated by an exaggerated neutrophil infiltration into the myocardium.}, language = {en} } @article{HofmannFrantz2013, author = {Hofmann, Ulrich and Frantz, Stefan}, title = {How can we cure a heart "in flame"? A translational view on inflammation in heart failure}, series = {Basic Research in Cardiology}, volume = {108}, journal = {Basic Research in Cardiology}, number = {356}, doi = {10.1007/s00395-013-0356-y}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-134497}, year = {2013}, abstract = {The prevalence of chronic heart failure is still increasing making it a major health issue in the 21st century. Tremendous evidence has emerged over the past decades that heart failure is associated with a wide array of mechanisms subsumed under the term "inflammation". Based on the great success of immuno-suppressive treatments in auto-immunity and transplantation, clinical trials were launched targeting inflammatory mediators in patients with chronic heart failure. However, they widely lacked positive outcomes. The failure of the initial study program directed against tumor necrosis factor-a led to the search for alternative therapeutic targets involving a broader spectrum of mechanisms besides cytokines. We here provide an overview of the current knowledge on immune activation in chronic heart failure of different etiologies, summarize clinical studies in the field, address unresolved key questions, and highlight some promising novel therapeutic targets for clinical trials from a translational basic science and clinical perspective.}, language = {en} } @article{ChopraLangSalzmannetal.2013, author = {Chopra, Martin and Lang, Isabell and Salzmann, Steffen and Pachel, Christina and Kraus, Sabrina and B{\"a}uerlein, Carina A. and Brede, Christian and Jord{\´a}n Garrote, Ana-Laura and Mattenheimer, Katharina and Ritz, Miriam and Schwinn, Stefanie and Graf, Carolin and Sch{\"a}fer, Viktoria and Frantz, Stefan and Einsele, Hermann and Wajant, Harald and Beilhack, Andreas}, title = {Tumor Necrosis Factor Induces Tumor Promoting and Anti-Tumoral Effects on Pancreatic Cancer via TNFR1}, series = {PLoS ONE}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0075737}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-97246}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Multiple activities are ascribed to the cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in health and disease. In particular, TNF was shown to affect carcinogenesis in multiple ways. This cytokine acts via the activation of two cell surface receptors, TNFR1, which is associated with inflammation, and TNFR2, which was shown to cause anti-inflammatory signaling. We assessed the effects of TNF and its two receptors on the progression of pancreatic cancer by in vivo bioluminescence imaging in a syngeneic orthotopic tumor mouse model with Panc02 cells. Mice deficient for TNFR1 were unable to spontaneously reject Panc02 tumors and furthermore displayed enhanced tumor progression. In contrast, a fraction of wild type (37.5\%), TNF deficient (12.5\%), and TNFR2 deficient mice (22.2\%) were able to fully reject the tumor within two weeks. Pancreatic tumors in TNFR1 deficient mice displayed increased vascular density, enhanced infiltration of CD4+ T cells and CD4+ forkhead box P3 (FoxP3)+ regulatory T cells (Treg) but reduced numbers of CD8+ T cells. These alterations were further accompanied by transcriptional upregulation of IL4. Thus, TNF and TNFR1 are required in pancreatic ductal carcinoma to ensure optimal CD8+ T cell-mediated immunosurveillance and tumor rejection. Exogenous systemic administration of human TNF, however, which only interacts with murine TNFR1, accelerated tumor progression. This suggests that TNFR1 has basically the capability in the Panc02 model to trigger pro-and anti-tumoral effects but the spatiotemporal availability of TNF seems to determine finally the overall outcome.}, language = {en} }