Project description:Surgical specimens from children with infantile hemangioma or lymphatic malformations, as well as healthy appearing adjacent skin, were analyzed by microarray analysis of microRNA expression. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering was performed to identify microRNAs that were differentially expressed in IH compared to lymphatic malformations and skin
Project description:Surgical specimens from children with infantile hemangioma or lymphatic malformations, as well as healthy appearing adjacent skin, were analyzed by microarray analysis of microRNA expression. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering was performed to identify microRNAs that were differentially expressed in IH compared to lymphatic malformations and skin 19 patients who underwent surgical excision of either a lymphatic malformation or infantile hemangioma were used in the study. 5 patients have multiple samples on the array and these duplicates are from different regions of the excised tissue or separate lesions as indicated. Tissue was snap frozen in liquid nitrogen and used for RNA extraction
Project description:Infantile hemangioma (IH) was one of the most common vascular tumors during childhood. Long non coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play great roles in angiogenesis; the involvement of lncRNAs in hemangioma remains unknown. We aim to investigate the differential expression of lncRNA between hemangioma and the adjacent normal tissues, with a view to studying the biological function of lncRNAs and their involvement in the pathogenesis of hemangioma. The differential lncRNAs expression profiles of hemangioma were established by lncRNA microarray. Bioinformatic analyses were applied for further study of these differentially expressed lncRNAs. A total of 2116 differentially expressed lncRNAs were identified, among these lncRNAs, 1259 were up-regulated and 857 were down-regulated more than two-fold.
Project description:Infantile hemangioma (IH) is the most common tumor in children and a paradigm for pathological vasculogenesis, angiogenesis and regression. Propranolol is the mainstay of treatment for IH. It inhibits hemangioma vessel formation via a β-adrenergic receptor independent effect of its R(+) enantiomer on the endothelial specific transcription factor sex-determining region Y (SRY) box transcription factor 18 (SOX18). Transcriptomic profiling of patient-derived hemangioma stem cells uncovered the mevalonate pathway (MVP) as a target of R(+) propranolol. Loss of SOX18 function confirmed R(+) propranolol mode of action on the MVP. Functional validation in preclinical IH models revealed that statins - targeting the MVP - are potent inhibitors of hemangioma vessel formation. We propose a novel SOX18-MVP-axis as a central regulator of IH pathogenesis and suggest statin repurposing to treat IH.
Project description:Infantile hemangioma (IH) is the most common tumor in children and a paradigm for pathological vasculogenesis, angiogenesis and regression. Propranolol is the mainstay of treatment for IH. It inhibits hemangioma vessel formation via a β-adrenergic receptor independent effect of its R(+) enantiomer on the endothelial specific transcription factor sex-determining region Y (SRY) box transcription factor 18 (SOX18). Transcriptomic profiling of patient-derived hemangioma stem cells uncovered the mevalonate pathway (MVP) as a target of R(+) propranolol. Loss of SOX18 function confirmed R(+) propranolol mode of action on the MVP. Functional validation in preclinical IH models revealed that statins - targeting the MVP - are potent inhibitors of hemangioma vessel formation. We propose a novel SOX18-MVP-axis as a central regulator of IH pathogenesis and suggest statin repurposing to treat IH.
Project description:As the most common vascular tumor during infancy, infantile hemangioma (IH) is clinically featured by a rapid proliferation phase of disorganized blood vessels and a subsequent spontaneous involution phase. Infantile hemangioma arises from a unique type of multipotent stem cells called hemangioma stem cells (HemSCs), which could differentiate into endothelial cells, pericytes and adipocytes in IH. However, the underlying mechanisms that regulate the cell fate determination of HemSCs are not well elucidated. Here, we identified KLF2 as a candidate transcription factor involved in the control of HemSCs differentiation. KLF2 was expressed in endothelial cells in proliferating IH and its expression diminished in adipocytes in involuting IH. KLF2 regualtes the proliferation, apopotosis and cell cycle progression in HemSCs. Moreover, KLF2 is a critical regulator in HemSCs that control their differentiation direction between endothelial cells and adipocytes. Knockdown of KLF2 inhibited the formation of blood vessels in vivo while accelerated the progress of adipogenesis. RNA-seq analysis suggested an induction of pro-adipogenic transcriptome in HemSCs upon KLF2 knockdown. Our data showed that KLF2 exhibited pleiotropic effects in regulating the biological behaviours of HemSCs, and was involved in the progression and involution of IH via determining the cell fate of HemSCs.
Project description:Infantile hemangioma (IH), the most common vascular tumor of infancy, relies on hemangioma stem cells (HemSCs) to drive pathological vasculogenesis during the proliferating phase. While beta-blockers are currently first-line treatment for IH, resistance and rebound growth necessitates novel strategies. Here, we identify histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) as a potential epigenetic drug for IH. The pan-HDAC inhibitor SAHA significantly suppresses in vivo vasculogenesis in a murine IH model. Mechanistically, SAHA selectively blocks the differentiation of HemSCs into pericytes by destabilizing NOTCH3 protein through acetylation-primed ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation, thus disrupting perivascular support which is indispensable for IH vasculogenesis. Furthermore, the blockade of pericyte differentiation by SAHA synergizes with propranolol, which inhibits endothelial differentiation of HemSCs, in a complementary manner. Additionally, SAHA promotes adipogenic differentiation of HemSCs and accelerates IH involution. Collectively, our work highlights the clinical significance of cell fate determination during IH progression, and establishes HDAC inhibition as a novel therapeutic option for IH through targeting pericyte differentiation of HemSCs, which provides a promising enhancement to current treatment strategies of refractory IH.