TY - JOUR A1 - Beyrich, Claudia A1 - Löffler, Jürgen A1 - Kobsar, Anna A1 - Speer, Christian P. A1 - Kneitz, Susanne A1 - Eigenthaler, Martin T1 - Infection of Human Coronary Artery Endothelial Cells by Group B Streptococcus Contributes to Dysregulation of Apoptosis, Hemostasis, and Innate Immune Responses [Research Article] N2 - Early onset sepsis due to group B streptococcus leads to neonatal morbidity, increased mortality, and long-term neurological deficencies. Interaction between septicemic GBS and confluent monolayers of human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAECs) was analyzed by genome wide expression profiling. In total, 124 genes were differentially expressed (89 upregulated, 35 downregulated) based on a more than 3-fold difference to control HCAEC. Regulated genes are involved in apoptosis, hemostasis, oxidative stress response, infection, and inflammation. Regulation of selected genes and proteins identified in the gene array analysis was confirmed by Real-time RT-PCR assay (granulocy te chemotactic protein 2), ELISA (urokinase, cyclooxygenase 2, granulocyte chemotactic protein 1), and western blotting (Heme oxygenase1, BCL2 interacting protein) at various time points between 4 and 24 hours. These results indicate that GBS infection might influence signalling pathways leading to impaired function of the innate immune system and hemorrhagic and inflammatory complications during GBS sepsis. KW - Medizin Y1 - 2011 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-68834 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kneitz, Christian A1 - Kerkau, Thomas A1 - Müller, Justus A1 - Coulibaly, Cheick A1 - Stahl-Henning, Christiane A1 - Hunsmann, Gerhard A1 - Hünig, Thomas A1 - Schimpl, Anneliese T1 - Early phenotypic and functional alterations in lymphocytes from simian immunodeficiency virus infected macaques N2 - Phenotypic and functional changes in lymphocytes from rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) were investigated during the first 6 months after infection with SIVmac 32H. Animals preimmunized with keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) were sacrificed l, 3, 6, 12, and 24 weeks post infection. Subset composition and function of lymphocytes from blood, spleen, lymph node and thymus were analysed. In addition to a rapid decline in CD4/CD8 ratios, a massive reduction in CD29+CD4+ cells was seen in the periphery. Although depletion of this subset was observed throughout the course of this experiment, the loss of proliferative T cell responses was most pronounced very early after infection and partially recovered after Month 3. Polyclonal cytotoxic responses were only slightly affected. In the thymus, a gradual, but moderate loss of CD4 + CD8 + immature thymocytes, and a relative increase in both CD4 + and CD8 + mature subsets was observed. Infectious virus was readily recovered from homogenates of lymph node and spleen, but not of thymus tissue. Interestingly, however, virus was detected in thymocytes from all infected animals by cocultivation with a simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) susceptible cell line. Y1 - 1993 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-32593 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Simon, Christian M. A1 - Rauskolb, Stefanie A1 - Gunnersen, Jennifer M. A1 - Holtmann, Bettina A1 - Drepper, Carsten A1 - Dombert, Benjamin A1 - Braga, Massimiliano A1 - Wiese, Stefan A1 - Jablonka, Sibylle A1 - Pühringer, Dirk A1 - Zielasek, Jürgen A1 - Hoeflich, Andreas A1 - Silani, Vincenzo A1 - Wolf, Eckhard A1 - Kneitz, Susanne A1 - Sommer, Claudia A1 - Toyka, Klaus V. A1 - Sendtner, Michael T1 - Dysregulated IGFBP5 expression causes axon degeneration and motoneuron loss in diabetic neuropathy JF - Acta Neuropathologica N2 - Diabetic neuropathy (DNP), afflicting sensory and motor nerve fibers, is a major complication in diabetes.The underlying cellular mechanisms of axon degeneration are poorly understood. IGFBP5, an inhibitory binding protein for insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) is highly up-regulated in nerve biopsies of patients with DNP. We investigated the pathogenic relevance of this finding in transgenic mice overexpressing IGFBP5 in motor axons and sensory nerve fibers. These mice develop motor axonopathy and sensory deficits similar to those seen in DNP. Motor axon degeneration was also observed in mice in which the IGF1 receptor(IGF1R) was conditionally depleted in motoneurons, indicating that reduced activity of IGF1 on IGF1R in motoneurons is responsible for the observed effect. These data provide evidence that elevated expression of IGFBP5 in diabetic nerves reduces the availability of IGF1 for IGF1R on motor axons, thus leading to progressive neurodegeneration. Inhibition of IGFBP5 could thus offer novel treatment strategies for DNP. KW - Motor nerve biopsy KW - Diabetic polyneuropathy KW - Neuropathy KW - Neurotrophic factors KW - Axonal degeneration Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-154569 VL - 130 SP - 373 EP - 387 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Moris, Lisa A1 - Van den Broeck, Thomas A1 - Tosco, Lorenzo A1 - Van Baelen, Anthony A1 - Gontero, Paolo A1 - Karnes, Robert Jeffrey A1 - Everaerts, Wouter A1 - Albersen, Maarten A1 - Bastian, Patrick J. A1 - Chlosta, Piotr A1 - Claessens, Frank A1 - Chun, Felix K. A1 - Graefen, Markus A1 - Gratzke, Christian A1 - Kneitz, Burkhard A1 - Marchioro, Giansilvio A1 - Salas, Rafael Sanchez A1 - Tombal, Bertrand A1 - Van Der Poel, Henk A1 - Walz, Jochen Christoph A1 - De Meerleer, Gert A1 - Bossi, Alberto A1 - Haustermans, Karin A1 - Montorsi, Francesco A1 - Van Poppel, Hendrik A1 - Spahn, Martin A1 - Briganti, Alberto A1 - Joniau, Steven T1 - Impact of lymph node burden on survival of high-risk prostate cancer patients following radical prostatectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection JF - Frontiers in Surgery N2 - Aim To determine the impact of the extent of lymph node invasion (LNI) on long-term oncological outcomes after radical prostatectomy (RP). Material and methods In this retrospective study, we examined the data of 1,249 high-risk, non-metastatic PCa patients treated with RP and pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) between 1989 and 2011 at eight different tertiary institutions. We fitted univariate and multivariate Cox models to assess independent predictors of cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS). The number of positive lymph node (LN) was dichotomized according to the most informative cutoff predicting CSS. Kaplan–Meier curves assessed CSS and OS rates. Only patients with at least 10 LNs removed at PLND were included. This cutoff was chosen as a surrogate for a well performed PNLD. Results Mean age was 65 years (median: 66, IQR 60–70). Positive surgical margins were present in 53.7% (n = 671). Final Gleason score (GS) was 2–6 in 12.7% (n = 158), 7 in 52% (n = 649), and 8–10 in 35.4% (n = 442). The median number of LNs removed during PLND was 15 (IQR 12–17). Of all patients, 1,128 (90.3%) had 0–3 positive LNs, while 126 (9.7%) had ≥4 positive LNs. Patients with 0–3 positive LNs had significantly better CSS outcome at 10-year follow-up compared to patients with ≥4 positive LNs (87 vs. 50%; p < 0.0001). Similar results were obtained for OS, with a 72 vs. 37% (p < 0.0001) survival at 10 years for patients with 0–3 vs. ≥4 positive LNs, respectively. At multivariate analysis, final GS of 8–10, salvage ADT therapy, and ≥4 (vs. <4) positive LNs were predictors of worse CSS and OS. Pathological stage pT4 was an additional predictor of worse CSS. Conclusion Four or more positive LNs, pathological stage pT4, and final GS of 8–10 represent independent predictors for worse CSS in patients with high-risk PCa. Primary tumor biology remains a strong driver of tumor progression and patients having ≥4 positive LNs could be considered an enriched patient group in which novel treatment strategies should be studied. KW - high-risk prostate cancer KW - lymph node dissection KW - positive lymph node KW - prognosis KW - surgery Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-195721 SN - 2296-875X VL - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Glutsch, Valerie A1 - Schummer, Patrick A1 - Kneitz, Hermann A1 - Gesierich, Anja A1 - Goebeler, Matthias A1 - Klein, Detlef A1 - Posch, Christian A1 - Gebhardt, Christoffer A1 - Haferkamp, Sebastian A1 - Zimmer, Lisa A1 - Becker, Jürgen C A1 - Leiter, Ulrike A1 - Weichenthal, Michael A1 - Schadendorf, Dirk A1 - Ugurel, Selma A1 - Schilling, Bastian T1 - Ipilimumab plus nivolumab in avelumab-refractory Merkel cell carcinoma: a multicenter study of the prospective skin cancer registry ADOREG JF - Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer N2 - Merkel cell carcinoma is a rare, highly aggressive skin cancer with neuroendocrine differentiation. Immune checkpoint inhibition has significantly improved treatment outcomes in metastatic disease with response rates to programmed cell death protein 1/programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) inhibition of up to 62%. However, primary and secondary resistance to PD-1/PD-L1 inhibition remains a so far unsolved clinical challenge since effective and safe treatment options for these patients are lacking.Fourteen patients with advanced (non-resectable stage III or stage IV, Union international contre le cancer 2017) Merkel cell carcinoma with primary resistance to the PD-L1 inhibitor avelumab receiving subsequent therapy (second or later line) with ipilimumab plus nivolumab (IPI/NIVO) were identified in the prospective multicenter skin cancer registry ADOREG. Five of these 14 patients were reported previously and were included in this analysis with additional follow-up. Overall response rate, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and adverse events were analyzed.All 14 patients received avelumab as first-line treatment. Thereof, 12 patients had shown primary resistance with progressive disease in the first tumor assessment, while two patients had initially experienced a short-lived stabilization (stable disease). Six patients had at least one systemic treatment in between avelumab and IPI/NIVO. In total, 7 patients responded to IPI/NIVO (overall response rate 50%), and response was ongoing in 4 responders at last follow-up. After a median follow-up of 18.85 months, median PFS was 5.07 months (95% CI 2.43—not available (NA)), and median OS was not reached. PFS rates at 12 months and 24 months were 42.9% and 26.8 %, respectively. The OS rate at 36 months was 64.3%. Only 3 (21%) patients did not receive all 4 cycles of IPI/NIVO due to immune-related adverse events.In this multicenter evaluation, we observed high response rates, a durable benefit and promising OS rates after treatment with later-line combined IPI/NIVO. In conclusion, our patient cohort supports our prior findings with an encouraging activity of second-line or later-line IPI/NIVO in patients with anti-PD-L1-refractory Merkel cell carcinoma. KW - Skin Neoplasms KW - CTLA-4 Antigen KW - Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor KW - B7-H1 Antigen KW - Drug Therapy, Combination Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-304613 SN - 2051-1426 VL - 10 IS - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hoesl, Christine A1 - Fröhlich, Thomas A1 - Posch, Christian A1 - Kneitz, Hermann A1 - Goebeler, Matthias A1 - Schneider, Marlon R. A1 - Dahlhoff, Maik T1 - The transmembrane protein LRIG1 triggers melanocytic tumor development following chemically induced skin carcinogenesis JF - Molecular Oncology N2 - The incidence of melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer has increased tremendously in recent years. Although novel treatment options have significantly improved patient outcomes, the prognosis for most patients with an advanced disease remains dismal. It is, thus, imperative to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in skin carcinogenesis in order to develop new targeted treatment strategies. Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK) like the ERBB receptor family, including EGFR/ERBB1, ERBB2/NEU, ERBB3, and ERBB4, are important regulators of skin homeostasis and their dysregulation often results in cancer, which makes them attractive therapeutic targets. Members of the leucine‐rich repeats and immunoglobulin‐like domains protein family (LRIG1‐3) are ERBB regulators and thus potential therapeutic targets to manipulate ERBB receptors. Here, we analyzed the function of LRIG1 during chemically induced skin carcinogenesis in transgenic mice expressing LRIG1 in the skin under the control of the keratin 5 promoter (LRIG1‐TG mice). We observed a significant induction of melanocytic tumor formation in LRIG1‐TG mice and no difference in papilloma incidence between LRIG1‐TG and control mice. Our findings also revealed that LRIG1 affects ERBB signaling via decreased phosphorylation of EGFR and increased activation of the oncoprotein ERBB2 during skin carcinogenesis. The epidermal proliferation rate was significantly decreased during epidermal tumorigenesis under LRIG1 overexpression, and the apoptosis marker cleaved caspase 3 was significantly activated in the epidermis of transgenic LRIG1 mice. Additionally, we detected LRIG1 expression in human cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma samples. Therefore, we depleted LRIG1 in human melanoma cells (A375) by CRISPR/Cas9 technology and found that this caused EGFR and ERBB3 downregulation in A375 LRIG1 knockout cells 6 h following stimulation with EGF. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that LRIG1‐TG mice develop melanocytic skin tumors during chemical skin carcinogenesis and a deletion of LRIG1 in human melanoma cells reduces EGFR and ERBB3 expression after EGF stimulation. KW - ERBB receptors KW - LRIG1 KW - melanoma KW - mouse model KW - skin carcinogenesis Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-238925 VL - 15 IS - 8 SP - 2140 EP - 2155 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kneitz, Hermann A1 - Rose, Christian A1 - Glutsch, Valerie A1 - Goebeler, Matthias T1 - Recurrence of a cellular blue nevus with satellitosis — a diagnostic pitfall with clinical consequences JF - Dermatopathology N2 - Blue nevus is a benign melanocytic lesion, typically asymptomatic and of unknown etiology. Several histologic and clinical variants have been distinguished, the most frequent being common blue nevus, cellular blue nevus, and combined blue nevus. Although melanocytic nevi with a satellite lesion are usually suggestive of locally advanced malignant melanoma, very few cases of blue nevi with satellite lesions have been reported. The diagnosis of common or cellular blue nevi is generally straightforward; however, the presence of structures such as irregular edges or satellitosis are highly suggestive for malignancy, and differential diagnoses such as locally advanced malignant melanoma and malignant blue nevus should be considered. Recurrent blue nevi can display atypical features not seen in the primary lesion, such as pleomorphism and mitotic activity. They usually tend to follow a benign course; however, in some cases, recurrence may indicate malignant transformation. We here report the unique case of a 64-year-old woman with a recurrent cellular blue nevus accompanied by satellite lesions. Such a biological behavior resulting in a clinical presentation as a melanoma-like lesion is a rarity in blue nevus and has not been described before. KW - common blue nevus KW - cell rich blue nevus KW - satellitosis KW - immunohistochemistry KW - skin Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-297436 SN - 2296-3529 VL - 9 IS - 4 SP - 361 EP - 367 ER -