Role of viral induced vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) production in pleural effusion and malignant mesothelioma
Tuesday, November 11th, 2008.
Cell Biology International. 2009 Feb;33(2):180-6. Epub 2008 Nov 1. [Link]
Wörnle M, Sauter M, Kastenmüller K, Ribeiro A, Roeder M, Mussack T, Ladurner R, Sitter T.
Medical Policlinic, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany. markus.woernle@med.uni-muenchen.de
Abstract
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a key role in formation of pleural effusions and in tumorigenesis and progression of malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelial cells (MC) express the viral receptors Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3), RIG-I and MDA5. Activation of these receptors by viral RNA exemplified by poly(I:C) RNA leads to a time- and dose-dependent increase of mesothelial VEGF synthesis. To show the specific effect of viral receptors knockdown experiments with siRNA for TLR3, RIG-I and MDA5 were performed. This finding of viral induced mesothelial VEGF synthesis may indicate a novel link between viral infections and formation of pleural effusions and progression of malignant mesothelioma.
Keywords: Malignant mesothelioma; MDA5; RIG-I; Toll-like receptor 3; VEGF
