TY - JOUR A1 - Buga, Ana Maria A1 - Margaritescu, Claudiu A1 - Scholz, Claus Jürgen A1 - Radu, Eugen A1 - Zelenak, Christine A1 - Popa-Wagner, Aurel T1 - Transcriptomics of Post-Stroke Angiogenesis in the Aged Brain JF - Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience N2 - Despite the obvious clinical significance of post-stroke angiogenesis in aged subjects, a detailed transcriptomic analysis of post-stroke angiogenesis has not yet been undertaken in an aged experimental model. In this study, by combining stroke transcriptomics with immunohistochemistry in aged rats and post-stroke patients, we sought to identify an age-specific gene expression pattern that may characterize the angiogenic process after stroke. We found that both young and old infarcted rats initiated vigorous angiogenesis. However, the young rats had a higher vascular density by day 14 post-stroke. “New-for-stroke” genes that were linked to the increased vasculature density in young animals included Angpt2, Angptl2, Angptl4, Cib1, Ccr2, Col4a2, Cxcl1, Lef1, Hhex, Lamc1, Nid2, Pcam1, Plod2, Runx3, Scpep1, S100a4, Tgfbi, and Wnt4, which are required for sprouting angiogenesis, reconstruction of the basal lamina (BL), and the resolution phase. The vast majority of genes involved in sprouting angiogenesis (Angpt2, Angptl4, Cib1, Col8a1, Nrp1, Pcam1, Pttg1ip, Rac2, Runx1, Tnp4, Wnt4); reconstruction of a new BL (Col4a2, Lamc1, Plod2); or tube formation and maturation (Angpt1, Gpc3, Igfbp7, Sparc, Tie2, Tnfsf10), had however, a delayed upregulation in the aged rats. The angiogenic response in aged rats was further diminished by the persistent upregulation of “inflammatory” genes (Cxcl12, Mmp8, Mmp12, Mmp14, Mpeg1, Tnfrsf1a, Tnfrsf1b) and vigorous expression of genes required for the buildup of the fibrotic scar (Cthrc1, Il6ra, Il13ar1, Il18, Mmp2, Rassf4, Tgfb1, Tgfbr2, Timp1). Beyond this barrier, angiogenesis in the aged brains was similar to that in young brains. We also found that the aged human brain is capable of mounting a vigorous angiogenic response after stroke, which most likely reflects the remaining brain plasticity of the aged brain. KW - aging KW - stroke KW - transcriptomics KW - angiogenesis Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-120700 VL - 6 IS - 44 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rath, Subha N. A1 - Brandl, Andreas A1 - Hiller, Daniel A1 - Hoppe, Alexander A1 - Gbureck, Uwe A1 - Horch, Raymund E. A1 - Boccaccini, Aldo R. A1 - Kneser, Ulrich T1 - Bioactive Copper-Doped Glass Scaffolds Can Stimulate Endothelial Cells in Co-Culture in Combination with Mesenchymal Stem Cells JF - PLOS ONE N2 - Bioactive glass (BG) scaffolds are being investigated for bone tissue engineering applications because of their osteoconductive and angiogenic nature. However, to increase the in vivo performance of the scaffold, including enhancing the angiogenetic growth into the scaffolds, some researchers use different modifications of the scaffold including addition of inorganic ionic components to the basic BG composition. In this study, we investigated the in vitro biocompatibility and bioactivity of Cu2+-doped BG derived scaffolds in either BMSC (bone-marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells)-only culture or co-culture of BMSC and human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HDMEC). In BMSC-only culture, cells were seeded either directly on the scaffolds (3D or direct culture) or were exposed to ionic dissolution products of the BG scaffolds, kept in permeable cell culture inserts (2D or indirect culture). Though we did not observe any direct osteoinduction of BMSCs by alkaline phosphatase (ALP) assay or by PCR, there was increased vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression, observed by PCR and ELISA assays. Additionally, the scaffolds showed no toxicity to BMSCs and there were healthy live cells found throughout the scaffold. To analyze further the reasons behind the increased VEGF expression and to exploit the benefits of the finding, we used the indirect method with HDMECs in culture plastic and Cu2+-doped BG scaffolds with or without BMSCs in cell culture inserts. There was clear observation of increased endothelial markers by both FACS analysis and acetylated LDL (acLDL) uptake assay. Only in presence of Cu2+-doped BG scaffolds with BMSCs, a high VEGF secretion was demonstrated by ELISA; and typical tubular structures were observed in culture plastics. We conclude that Cu2+-doped BG scaffolds release Cu2+, which in turn act on BMSCs to secrete VEGF. This result is of significance for the application of BG scaffolds in bone tissue engineering approaches. KW - arteriovenous loop KW - calcium-phosphate KW - iron release KW - bone KW - angiogenesis KW - expression KW - differentation KW - proliferation KW - osteoblasts KW - growth Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-114339 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 9 IS - 12 ER - TY - THES A1 - Schneider, Magdalena T1 - Synthese, Radiomarkierung und biochemische sowie präklinische Evaluierung neuer Aminopeptidase N- und Fibroblasten-Aktivierungs-Protein alpha- affiner Verbindungen für die molekulare Bildgebung mittels Positronen-Emissions-Tomographie T1 - Synthesis, radiolabeling and biochemical as well as preclinical evaluation of novel Aminopeptidase N- and Fibroblast-activation-protein alpha-affine compounds for molecular imaging using Positron-Emission-tomography N2 - Nach einem Myokardinfarkt setzen Wundheilungsprozesse ein, um die Durchblutung wieder herzustellen und nekrotisches Muskelgewebe durch Narbengewebe zu ersetzen. Die Einsprossung neuer Kapillaren vom bestehenden Gefäßnetz aus wird als Angiogenese bezeichnet. Das dabei vermehrt exprimierte proteolytische Enzym Aminopeptidase N (APN) spielt eine entscheidende Rolle bei der Einsprossung von Endothelzellen. Beim kardialen Remodeling werden abgestorbene Myozyten mithilfe der Einwanderung von Fibroblasten durch Binde- oder Stützgewebe ersetzt, dabei übernimmt das Fibroblasten-Aktivierungs-Protein alpha (FAP) Aufgaben bei der Proliferation und Fortbewegung von Fibroblasten. Durch ihre erhöhte Expression bei den Wundheilungs- und Remodelingprozessen nach einem Herzinfarkt stellen die Metalloprotease APN und die Serinprotease FAP molekulare Targets für die Diagnostik und Therapie dar. Als Diagnosemethode besonders geeignet ist die Positronen-Emissions-Tomographie (PET), die es ermöglicht, biochemische Prozesse in Echtzeit im zu untersuchenden Organismus zu visualisieren und zu quantifizieren. Eine als Radiopharmakon oder Tracer bezeichnete biochemische Sonde kann im Falle eines Enzyms dessen radioaktiv markiertes Substrat oder ein Inhibitor sein. Ziel dieser Arbeit war es, spezifische APN- und FAP-affine Tracer für die nicht-invasive Untersuchung der APN- und FAP-Expression mittels PET zu entwickeln und dadurch die Rolle von APN und FAP bei Remodelingprozessen nach Myokardinfarkt besser verstehen bzw. klären zu können. Um die Protease APN mittels PET zu untersuchen, wurden die für APN affine Verbindung NOTA-NGR (Komplexbildner + cyclisches Peptid inkl. Asparagin-Glycin-Arginin) mit dem Positronen-emittierenden Nuklid Gallium-68 (68Ga) markiert. Das Potential von 68Ga-NOTA-NGR als PET-Tracer wurde in vivo am Infarktmodell mittels Kleintier-PET untersucht und mit 68Ga-NOTA-RGD, einem zur Visualisierung des neo-angiogenetischen alphavbeta3-Integrins etablierten Tracer, verglichen. Untersuchungen ergaben, dass 68Ga-NOTA-NGR einen vielversprechenden neuen PET-Tracer für die Visualisierung und Quantifizierung der APN-Expression im Rahmen der Angiogenese nach einem Myokardinfarkt darstellt. 68Ga-NOTA-NGR zeigte eine erhöhte Aufnahme im Bereich des Myokardinfarkts im Sinne einer vermehrten Angiogenese. Die Aufnahme des Tracers in infarzierten Arealen war quantitativ höher als in der Untersuchung mit 68Ga-NOTA-RGD. In Autoradiographie-Experimenten wurde 68Ga-NOTA-NGR ex vivo untersucht. Die Akkumulation von 68Ga-NOTA-NGR im ischämischen Bereich war deutlich höher als im gesunden Myokard. Der Nachweis der unterschiedlichen Bereiche des Herzens erfolgte mit HE-Färbung. Die Expression von APN wurde immunohistochemisch mittels spezifischer Antikörper bestätigt. Zum Vergleich wurden ebenso einige andere an der Angiogenese beteiligte Faktoren untersucht. APN stellte sich auch hier als geeignetes Target zum Nachweis der Angiogenese heraus. Um die Protease FAP mittels PET zu untersuchen, wurden eine Reihe peptidomimetischer Inhibitoren, die die Erkennungssequenz Glycin-Prolin mit einer Carbonitril-Gruppe als elektrophiler Einheit zur kovalent-reversiblen Hemmung des Enzyms enthalten, entwickelt. Ausgehend vom N-Acetylglycin-pyrrolidin-(2S)-carbonitril als Leitstruktur wurden Inhibitoren und Vorstufen zur Radiomarkierung inkl. verschieden substituierter Benzoesäuren dargestellt. Zusätzlich wurden noch bereits bekannte Inhibitoren synthetisiert, die zum Vergleich in den Enzymassays dienten. Drei Verbindungen zeigten gute inhibitorische Wirkung an FAP und außerdem Selektivität gegenüber DPP IV. Keine der entwickelten Verbindungen zeigte einen KI-Wert im nanomolaren Bereich, erforderlich für einen potentiellen Tracer zur in-vivo-Visualisierung einer Enzymexpression mittels PET. Um die Inhibitoren mit der besten Hemmung an FAP zum PET-Tracer weiterzuentwickeln, mussten sie mit einem Positronenemitter markiert werden. Die Markierung erfolgte über Isotopenaustausch, bei dem nicht-radioaktives Iod am aromatischen Ring des Precursors durch das radioaktive Iod-124 (124I) substituiert wurde. Es konnten dadurch die radioiodierten Verbindungen 1-(2-[124I]Iodhippursäure)-pyrrolidin-(2S)-carbonitril und 1-(4-[124I]Iod-hippursäure)-pyrrolidin-(2S)-carbonitril synthetisiert werden. Trotz der relativ niedrigen Affinität für FAP wurde das neue 1-(2-[124I]Iodhippursäure)-pyrrolidin-(2S)-carbonitril in Ratten am Infarktmodell mittels Kleintier-PET getestet. Die Lage der ischämischen Zone wurde im Anschluss durch HE-Färbung bestimmt. In vivo zeigte sich eine nur sehr geringe Aufnahme des Radiopharmakons in der ischämischen Zone des Myokards. Damit ist 1-(2-[124I]Iod-hippursäure)-pyrrolidin-(2S)-carbonitril kein für den gewünschten Zweck geeigneter PET-Tracer. Nichtsdestotrotz war der Ansatz vielversprechend und es wurde zum ersten Mal ein PET-Tracer dieser Art zur Untersuchung des FAP im Myokardinfarkt hergestellt. N2 - After myocardial infarction, processes of wound healing are initiated in order to regain perfusion and to replace necrotic muscle tissue with soft tissue. The sprouting of new capillaries from the vasculature is called angiogenesis. During Angiogenesis, Aminopeptidase N (APN) plays an important role in the sprouting of endothelial cells. Cardiac remodeling is the process of replacement of necrotic myocytes with soft tissue through invasion of fibroblasts. For this cause, also a lot of proteases are activated. During the process of cardiac remodeling, fibroblast activation protein alpha (FAP) is involved in proliferation and migration of cardiac fibroblasts. Due to their increased expression during remodeling processes after myocardial infarction, the metalloprotease APN and the serine protease FAP have been identified as potential molecular targets for diagnosis and therapy. Diagnosis of the heart by nuclear imaging techniques is a well established method in clinical cardiology. Most of all positron emission tomopgraphy (PET) provides information on biochemical processes in vivo using specific radiotracers in real time. This imaging probe is labeled with a positron emitting radionuclide and is called radiopharmaceutical or tracer. In case of an enzyme, the tracer might for example be a labeled substrate or inhibitor of the enzyme. To visualize the protease APN with PET, NOTA-NGR (chelating agent + peptide sequence incl. asparagine-glycine-arginine), a compound that shows high affinity for APN, was labeled with the positron emitting nuclide Gallium-68 (68Ga). 68Ga-NOTA-NGR was developed including an improved synthesis, isolation and formulation of the tracer. Its potential as a PET-tracer was assessed in vivo using micro-PET and compared to the established tracer 68Ga-NOTA-RGD, used to visualize the integrin alphavbeta3 in angiogenesis. Studies in rats with ischemia/reperfusion showed high uptake of the new radiopharmaceutical 68Ga-NOTA-NGR in myocardial infarction area being used in diagnostic PET imaging of APN. The new tracer shows even a slightly higher uptake in angiogenetic areas compared with results obtained with 68Ga-NOTA-RGD. 68Ga-NOTA-NGR was also examined ex vivo using autoradiography, confirming the significant higher accumulation of the tracer in the ischemic area compared with the healthy myocardium. The different areas of the tissue were displayed by HE staining. For the purpose of immunohistochemistry, the expression of the enzyme APN was verified using antibody staining. Additionally several other factors that are involved in angiogenesis were stained. Through antibody staining APN was shown to be a suitable target for the evidence of angiogenesis. With 68Ga-NOTA-NGR, the development of a new PET-tracer for diagnosis of the expression of APN during angiogenesis after myocardial infarction was successful. In order to develop an imaging probe suitable for investigation of the protease FAP using PET, several peptidomimetic inhibitors containing the dipeptide motif glycine-proline and the electrophilic moiety carbonitrile were designed. With N-Acetylglycine-pyrrolidine-(2S)-carbonitrile being the basic structure, modifications were introduced through a benzoylic residue at the N-terminus. In addition, some well-known inhibitors were synthesized for comparison to the new ones in enzymatic assay. To evaluate their inhibitory effect, the new inhibitors were tested in enzymatic assays using FAP and dipeptidyl peptidase IV, a prolyl peptidase from the same family in order to compare the results with regard to selectivity. None of the new compounds showed a KI-value in the nanomolar range, required for visualization of an enzyme expression using PET. In order to investigate a PET-Tracer, the best inhibitors against FAP had to be labeled with a positron emitter. The radioactive analogues of the inhibitors were obtained using isotopic exchange of the natural iodine-nuclide by iodine-124 (124I), resulting in 1-(2-[124I]Iodohippuric acid)-pyrrolidine-(2S)-carbonitrile und 1-(4-[124I]Iodohippuric acid)-pyrrolidine-(2S)-carbonitrile. 1-(2-[124I]Iodohippuric acid)-pyrrolidine-(2S)-carbonitrile was tested in vivo using microPET in rats with myocardial infarction. Very low uptake of the radiopharmaceutical was observed in the ischemic area of the rat´s heart. Locations of ischemic and surviving parts of the myocardium were confirmed using HE staining. To our knowledge, 1-(2-[124I]Iodohippuric acid)-pyrrolidine-(2S)-carbonitrile is the first FAP-affine tracer developed for PET investigation. However, its potential as tracer for the FAP-expression within the myocardial infarction in vivo using PET could not be proven in the present study. Therefore, developments based on the structure of 1-(2-[124I]Iodohippuric acid)-pyrrolidine-(2S)-carbonitrile are going on, with view to identify a PET-tracer suitable for in-vivo-investigation of FAP in healing processes and remodeling after myocardial infarction using PET. KW - Positronen-Emissions-Tomographie KW - Alanyl-Aminopeptidase KW - Angiogenese KW - Fibroblasten-Aktivierungs-Protein Alpha KW - positron-emission-tomography KW - aminopeptidase N KW - remodeling KW - angiogenesis Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-102562 ER -