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Inflammation is part of the body's immune response in order to remove harmful stimuli—like pathogens, irritants or damaged cells—and start the healing process. Recurrent or chronic inflammation on the other side seems a predisposing factor for carcinogenesis and has been found associated with cancer development. In chronic pancreatitis mutations of the cationic trypsinogen (PRSS1) gene have been identified as risk factors of the disease. Hereditary pancreatitis (HP) is a rare cause of chronic pancreatic inflammation with an early onset, mostly during childhood. HP often starts with recurrent episodes of acute pancreatitis and the clinical phenotype is not very much different from other etiologies of the disease. The long-lasting inflammation however generates a tumor promoting environment and represents a major risk factor for tumor development This review will reflect our knowledge concerning the specific risk of HP patients to develop pancreatic cancer.
Determination of the Pathological Features of NPC1 Variants in a Cellular Complementation Test
(2019)
Niemann-Pick Type C (NP-C) is a rare disorder of lipid metabolism caused by mutations
within the NPC1 and NPC2 genes. NP-C is a neurovisceral disease leading to a heterogeneous,
multisystemic spectrum of symptoms in those affected. Until now, there is no investigative tool to
demonstrate the significance of single variants within the NPC genes. Hence, the aim of the study
was to establish a test that allows for an objective assessment of the pathological potential of NPC1
gene variants. Chinese hamster ovary cells defective in the NPC1 gene accumulate cholesterol in
lysosomal storage organelles. The cells were transfected with NPC1-GFP plasmid vectors carrying
distinct sequence variants. Filipin staining was used to test for complementation of the phenotype.
The known variant p.Ile1061Thr showed a significantly impaired cholesterol clearance after 12 and
24 h compared to the wild type. Among the investigated variants, p.Ser954Leu and p.Glu1273Lys
showed decelerated cholesterol clearance as well. The remaining variants p.Gln60His, p.Val494Met,
and p.Ile787Val showed a cholesterol clearance indistinguishable from wild type. Further, p.Ile1061Thr
acquired an enhanced clearance ability upon 25-hydroxycholesterol treatment. We conclude that the
variants that caused an abnormal clearance phenotype are highly likely to be of clinical relevance.
Moreover, we present a system that can be utilized to screen for new drugs.
Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is characterized by chronic inflammation and the progressive fibrotic replacement of exocrine and endocrine pancreatic tissue. We identify Treg cells as central regulators of the fibroinflammatory reaction by a selective depletion of FOXP3-positive cells in a transgenic mouse model (DEREG-mice) of experimental CP. In Treg-depleted DEREG-mice, the induction of CP results in a significantly increased stroma deposition, the development of exocrine insufficiency and significant weight loss starting from day 14 after disease onset. In CP, FOXP3+CD25+ Treg cells suppress the type-2 immune response by a repression of GATA3+ T helper cells (Th2), GATA3+ innate lymphoid cells type 2 (ILC2) and CD206+ M2-macrophages. A suspected pathomechanism behind the fibrotic tissue replacement may involve an observed dysbalance of Activin A expression in macrophages and of its counter regulator follistatin. Our study identified Treg cells as key regulators of the type-2 immune response and of organ remodeling during CP. The Treg/Th2 axis could be a therapeutic target to prevent fibrosis and preserve functional pancreatic tissue.