Verifiable Hypotheses for Thymosin β4-Dependent and -Independent Angiogenic Induction of Trichinella spiralis-Triggered Nurse Cell Formation

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Mee Sun Ock¹  Hee-Jae Cha¹ 

[1] Department of Parasitology and Genetics, Kosin University College of Medicine, Busan 602-702, Korea; E-Mail:

关键词: thymosin β4;    Trichinella spiralis;    nurse cells;    angiogenesis;    hypoxia;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms141223492

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Trichinella spiralis has been reported to induce angiogenesis for nutrient supply and waste disposal by the induction of the angiogenic molecule vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF) during nurse cell formation. However, the action mechanism to induce VEGF in nurse cells by T. spiralis is not known. Hypoxia in nurse cells was suggested as a possible mechanism; however, the presence of hypoxic conditions in infected muscle or nurse cells and whether hypoxia indeed induces the expression of VEGF and subsequent angiogenesis in the infected muscle are both a matter of debate. Our recent studies have shown that thymosin β4, a potent VEGF inducing protein, is expressed in the very early stages of T. spiralis muscle infection suggesting the induction of VEGF in early stage nurse cells. Nevertheless, we now show that hypoxic conditions were not detected in any nurse cell stage but were detected only in the accumulated inflammatory cells. These studies propose that induction of angiogenesis by VEGF in T. spiralis-infected nurse cells was mediated by thymosin β4 and is unrelated to hypoxic conditions.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland