scholarly journals After Nf1 loss in Schwann cells, inflammation drives neurofibroma formation

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. i23-i32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan S Fletcher ◽  
Jay Pundavela ◽  
Nancy Ratner
Keyword(s):  
Mast Cells ◽  
Peripheral Nerve ◽  
Immune Cell ◽  
Neurofibromatosis Type ◽  
Therapeutic Benefit ◽  
Allelic Loss ◽  
Type I ◽  
Stat3 Signaling ◽  
Patient Morbidity ◽  
And Function

Abstract Plexiform neurofibromas (PNF) are peripheral nerve tumors caused by bi-allelic loss of NF1 in the Schwann cell (SC) lineage. PNF are common in individuals with Neurofibromatosis type I (NF1) and can cause significant patient morbidity, spurring research into potential therapies. Immune cells are rare in peripheral nerve, whereas in PNF 30% of the cells are monocytes/macrophages. Mast cells, T cells, and dendritic cells (DCs) are also present. NF1 mutant neurofibroma SCs with elevated Ras-GTP signaling resemble injury-induced repair SCs, in producing growth factors and cytokines not normally present in SCs. This provides a cytokine-rich environment facilitating PNF immune cell recruitment and fibrosis. We propose a model based on genetic and pharmacologic evidence in which, after loss of Nf1 in the SC lineage, a lag occurs. Then, mast cells and macrophages are recruited to nerve. Later, T cell/DC recruitment through CXCL10/CXCR3 drives neurofibroma initiation and sustains PNF macrophages and tumor growth. Stat3 signaling is an additional critical mediator of neurofibroma initiation, cytokine production, and PNF growth. At each stage of PNF development therapeutic benefit should be achievable through pharmacologic modulation of leukocyte recruitment and function.

Utility of Preoperative Electrodiagnosis Together with Peripheral Nerve High-Resolution Ultrasound: A Complex Case Report of Neurofibromatosis Type I

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federica Basaldella ◽  
Andrea Rasera ◽  
Giampietro Zanette ◽  
Fabio Moscolo ◽  
Francesco Sala ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Case Report ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Peripheral Nerve ◽  
Neurofibromatosis Type ◽  
Complex Case ◽  
Lesion Volume ◽  
Type I ◽  
Neurophysiologic Monitoring ◽  
Neurologic Deficits ◽  
New Onset

AbstractOur case report underscores the importance of electroneuromyography (ENMG) combined with peripheral nerve high-resolution ultrasound (HRUS) in the evaluation of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). A 49-year-old woman affected by NF1 came to our attention because of new-onset left arm weakness and atrophy. Debulking of a cervicothoracic C7–T1 neurofibroma had been performed 8 years earlier. On current admission, magnetic resonance imaging disclosed increased lesion volume that was thought to cause the neurologic deficits by compressing the C8 root. Findings from intraoperative neurophysiologic monitoring during repeat debulking suggested that C8 root integrity had been compromised during the first operation and that the new-onset symptoms probably stemmed from peripheral nervous system damage distal to the cervical roots. Postoperative ENMG showed chronic denervation signs in the muscles innervated by C7–C8–T1 roots, moderate carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), and ulnar nerve conduction block at the elbow. HRUS confirmed the CTS and revealed multiple neurofibromas involving the distal tract of the radial, ulnar, and median nerves. Surgical debulking was considered unnecessary in this case. ENMG combined with nerve and plexus HRUS evaluation may help identify the cause of neurologic deficits and choose the best surgical option in such complex clinical conditions as NF1.

scholarly journals Signal Transduction Pathways Activated by Innate Immunity in Mast Cells: Translating Sensing of Changes into Specific Responses

Cells ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 2411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zyanya P. Espinosa-Riquer ◽  
Deisy Segura-Villalobos ◽  
Itzel G. Ramírez-Moreno ◽  
Marian Jesabel Pérez Rodríguez ◽  
Mónica Lamas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Innate Immunity ◽  
Mast Cells ◽  
Signaling Pathways ◽  
Cell Lineage ◽  
Negative Control ◽  
Type I ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Cell Type ◽  
And Function ◽  
Type I Hypersensitivity

Mast cells (MCs) constitute an essential cell lineage that participates in innate and adaptive immune responses and whose phenotype and function are influenced by tissue-specific conditions. Their mechanisms of activation in type I hypersensitivity reactions have been the subject of multiple studies, but the signaling pathways behind their activation by innate immunity stimuli are not so well described. Here, we review the recent evidence regarding the main molecular elements and signaling pathways connecting the innate immune receptors and hypoxic microenvironment to cytokine synthesis and the secretion of soluble or exosome-contained mediators in this cell type. When known, the positive and negative control mechanisms of those pathways are presented, together with their possible implications for the understanding of mast cell-driven chronic inflammation. Finally, we discuss the relevance of the knowledge about signaling in this cell type in the recognition of MCs as central elements on innate immunity, whose remarkable plasticity converts them in sensors of micro-environmental discontinuities and controllers of tissue homeostasis.

scholarly journals Hyperactivation of P21ras and the Hematopoietic-Specific Rho Gtpase, Rac2, Cooperate to Alter the Proliferation of Neurofibromin-Deficient Mast Cells in Vivo and in Vitro

2001 ◽  
Vol 194 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Ingram ◽  
Kelly Hiatt ◽  
Alastair J. King ◽  
Lucy Fisher ◽  
Rama Shivakumar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mast Cells ◽  
Cross Talk ◽  
Rho Gtpases ◽  
Rho Gtpase ◽  
Cell Lineage ◽  
Neurofibromatosis Type ◽  
Type I ◽  
Erk Pathway

Mutations in the NF1 tumor suppressor gene cause neurofibromatosis type I (NF1), a disease characterized by the formation of cutaneous neurofibromas infiltrated with a high density of degranulating mast cells. A hallmark of cell lines generated from NF1 patients or Nf1-deficient mice is their propensity to hyperproliferate. Neurofibromin, the protein encoded by NF1, negatively regulates p21ras activity by accelerating the conversion of Ras-GTP to Ras-GDP. However, identification of alterations in specific p21ras effector pathways that control proliferation in NF1-deficient cells is incomplete and critical for understanding disease pathogenesis. Recent studies have suggested that the proliferative effects of p21ras may depend on signaling outputs from the small Rho GTPases, Rac and Rho, but the physiologic importance of these interactions in an animal disease model has not been established. Using a genetic intercross between Nf1+/− and Rac2−/− mice, we now provide genetic evidence to support a biochemical model where hyperactivation of the extracellular signal–regulated kinase (ERK) via the hematopoietic-specific Rho GTPase, Rac2, directly contributes to the hyperproliferation of Nf1-deficient mast cells in vitro and in vivo. Further, we demonstrate that Rac2 functions as mediator of cross-talk between phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI-3K) and the classical p21ras-Raf-Mek-ERK pathway to confer a distinct proliferative advantage to Nf1+/− mast cells. Thus, these studies identify Rac2 as a novel mediator of cross-talk between PI-3K and the p21ras-ERK pathway which functions to alter the cellular phenotype of a cell lineage involved in the pathologic complications of a common genetic disease.

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