Changes of Bcl-2, Bax and Caspase-3 expression in the dermal microvascular endothelial cells and the epidermal layers of the eschar (tache noire) in patients with Mediterranean spotted fever

Abstract

Abstract:Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) is widely prevalent in many endemic regions in Bulgaria. The disease is still not quite thoroughly studied as to some aspects of its pathogenesis and especially to issues that concern the crucial signals for apoptosis in the target microvascular endothelial cells. To study the expression of Bcl-2 family proteins and Caspase-3 in the dermal capillary endothelial cells from skin papules and in the eschar (tache noire) epidermal layers of patients with MSF so that we can establish apoptotic processes and the time of their occurrence and deployment. Immunohistochemical reactions for Bcl-2, Bax and Caspase-3 were obtained in slices of punch-biopsies taken from papules of the skin rash and from the eschars of eight patients with MSF. The average intensity of the reactions was compared with that in control punch-biopsy slices from four healthy subjects. MSF was etiologically confirmed in all patients by positive antibody response to a specific antigen, Rickettsia conorii, with indirect immunofluorescent assay performed by the Rickettsial Reference Laboratory. The immune reaction for Bcl-2 was found to be poorly expressed in the capillary endothelial cells of skin papules of patients without any differences from controls. The expression of Bax and Caspase-3 was strongly upregulated in comparison with the controls. The Bcl-2/Bax ratio was significantly decreased. Microvascular endothelial cells of the eschar showed similar changes. While the Bcl-2/Bax ratio decreased in the epidermal layers of the eschar "tache noire", there were no changes in the intensity of the immunoreactivity of Caspase-3 as compared with controls. The upregulation of Bax and Caspase-3 is an indication of ongoing apoptotic processes in the dermal microvascular endothelial cells of MSF patients. The epidermal layers of the eschar showed increased sensitivity to apoptosis, however, executive phase of apoptosis did not occur.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Up-regulated microRNA-199b-3p represses the apoptosis of cerebral microvascular endothelial cells in ischemic stroke through down-regulation of MAPK/ERK/EGR1 axis

“…Amadeus Gladbach et al further discussed that ERK inhibition functioned as a significant role in ischemic stroke [35]. Inhibition of EGR1 may become a potential treatment to improve the outcomes of ischemic stroke because over-expressed EGR1 expression may aggravate brain injury [36]. In addition, the overexpression of Bax could promote the apoptosis of the dermal microvascular endothelial cells in patients with mediterranean spotted fever [37].…”

I(f) current channel inhibitor (ivabradine) deserves cardioprotective effect via down-regulating the expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and attenuating apoptosis in diabetic mice

“…Caspase 3 and BAX are two signals participating in the process of apoptosis [ 35 , 36 ]. Our study showed that ivabradine was associated with the significant dephosphorylation of caspase 3 and BAX, indicating the anti-apoptotic effect of ivabradine in diabetic animals.…”

Evaluation of skin expression profiles of patients with vitiligo treated with narrow-band UVB therapy by targeted RNA-seq

“…The cDNAs generated from the skin biopsies of patients before and after treatment were used to perform the expression analysis of a group of 29 genes involved in key pathways implicated in the pigmentation and homeostasis of the skin cells 8 - 10 , 25 - 42 using the Illumina MiSeq ® Reagent Kit v3 (150 cycle) and the TruSeq Targeted RNA Custom Panel Kit ( Chart 1 ).…”