TY - JOUR A1 - Baur, Johannes A1 - Otto, Christoph A1 - Steger, Ulrich A1 - Klein-Hessling, Stefan A1 - Muhammad, Khalid A1 - Pusch, Tobias A1 - Murti, Krisna A1 - Wismer, Rhoda A1 - Germer, Christoph-Thomas A1 - Klein, Ingo A1 - Müller, Nora A1 - Serfling, Edgar A1 - Avots, Andris T1 - The transcription factor NFaTc1 supports the rejection of heterotopic heart allografts JF - Frontiers in Immunology N2 - The immune suppressants cyclosporin A (CsA) and tacrolimus (FK506) are used worldwide in transplantation medicine to suppress graft rejection. Both CsA and FK506 inhibit the phosphatase calcineurin (CN) whose activity controls the immune receptor-mediated activation of lymphocytes. Downstream targets of CN in lymphocytes are the nuclear factors of activated T cells (NFATs). We show here that the activity of NFATc1, the most prominent NFAT factor in activated lymphocytes supports the acute rejection of heterotopic heart allografts. While ablation of NFATc1 in T cells prevented graft rejection, ectopic expression of inducible NFATc1/αA isoform led to rejection of heart allografts in recipient mice. Acceptance of transplanted hearts in mice bearing NFATc1-deficient T cells was accompanied by a reduction in number and cytotoxicity of graft infiltrating cells. In CD8\(^+\) T cells, NFATc1 controls numerous intracellular signaling pathways that lead to the metabolic switch to aerobic glycolysis and the expression of numerous lymphokines, chemokines, and their receptors, including Cxcr3 that supports the rejection of allogeneic heart transplants. These findings favors NFATc1 as a molecular target for the development of new strategies to control the cytotoxicity of T cells upon organ transplantation. KW - NFATc1 KW - transplantation KW - heterologous KW - CD8+ T cells KW - ChIPseq KW - metabolism Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-221530 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kress, Sebastian A1 - Baur, Johannes A1 - Otto, Christoph A1 - Burkard, Natalie A1 - Braspenning, Joris A1 - Walles, Heike A1 - Nickel, Joachim A1 - Metzger, Marco T1 - Evaluation of a miniaturized biologically vascularized scaffold in vitro and in vivo JF - Scientific Reports N2 - In tissue engineering, the generation and functional maintenance of dense voluminous tissues is mainly restricted due to insufficient nutrient supply. Larger three-dimensional constructs, which exceed the nutrient diffusion limit become necrotic and/or apoptotic in long-term culture if not provided with an appropriate vascularization. Here, we established protocols for the generation of a pre-vascularized biological scaffold with intact arterio-venous capillary loops from rat intestine, which is decellularized under preservation of the feeding and draining vascular tree. Vessel integrity was proven by marker expression, media/blood reflow and endothelial LDL uptake. In vitro maintenance persisted up to 7 weeks in a bioreactor system allowing a stepwise reconstruction of fully vascularized human tissues and successful in vivo implantation for up to 4 weeks, although with time-dependent decrease of cell viability. The vascularization of the construct lead to a 1.5× increase in cellular drug release compared to a conventional static culture in vitro. For the first time, we performed proof-of-concept studies demonstrating that 3D tissues can be maintained within a miniaturized vascularized scaffold in vitro and successfully implanted after re-anastomosis to the intrinsic blood circulation in vivo. We hypothesize that this technology could serve as a powerful platform technology in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. KW - biological models KW - translational research Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-176343 VL - 8 IS - 4719 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pelz, Jörg O. W. A1 - Wagner, Johanna A1 - Lichthardt, Sven A1 - Baur, Johannes A1 - Kastner, Caroline A1 - Matthes, Niels A1 - Germer, Christoph-Thomas A1 - Wiegering, Armin T1 - Laparoscopic right-sided colon resection for colon cancer - has the control group so far been chosen correctly? JF - World Journal of Surgical Oncology N2 - Background: The treatment strategies for colorectal cancer located in the right side of the colon have changed dramatically during the last decade. Due to the introduction of complete mesocolic excision (CME) with central ligation of the vessels and systematic lymph node dissection, the long-term survival of affected patients has increased significantly. It has also been proposed that right-sided colon resection can be performed laparoscopically with the same extent of resection and equal long-term results. Methods: A retrospective evaluation of a prospectively expanded database on right-sided colorectal cancer or adenoma treated at the University Hospital of Wuerzburg between 2009 and 2016 was performed. All patients underwent CME. This data was analyzed alone and in comparison to the published data describing laparoscopic right-sided colon resection for colon cancer. Results: The database contains 279 patients, who underwent right-sided colon resection due to colorectal cancer or colorectal adenoma (255 open; 24 laparoscopic). Operation data (time, length of stay, time on ICU) was equal or superior to laparoscopy, which is comparable to the published results. Surprisingly, the surrogate parameter for correct CME (the number of removed lymph nodes) was significantly higher in the open group. In a subgroup analysis only including patients who were feasible for laparoscopic resection and had been operated with an open procedure by an experienced surgeon, operation time was significantly shorter and the number of removed lymph nodes is significantly higher in the open group. Conclusion: So far, several studies demonstrate that laparoscopic right-sided colon resection is comparable to open resection. Our data suggests that a consequent CME during an open operation leads to significantly more removed lymph nodes than in laparoscopically resected patients and in several so far published data of open control groups from Europe. Further prospective randomized trials comparing the long-term outcome are urgently needed before laparoscopy for right-sided colon resection can be recommended ubiquitously. KW - colon cancer KW - laparoscopic right colectomy KW - lymph nodes Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-176186 VL - 16 IS - 117 ER -