Fetal Microchimeric Cells Participate in Tumour Angiogenesis in Melanomas Occurring during Pregnancy

Abstract

Melanoma is a major malignancy in younger individuals that accounts for 8% of all neoplasias associated with gestation. During pregnancy, a small number of fetal cells enter the maternal circulation. These cells persist and then migrate to various maternal tissues where they may engraft and differentiate, particularly if there is organ damage, adopting the phenotype of the host organ. To understand the relationship between melanoma and pregnancy, we analyzed these tumors in both humans and mice. Fetal cells were detected in 63% of human primary melanomas versus 12% in nevi during pregnancy (P ‫؍‬ 0.034) and in 57% of B16 melanomas in pregnant mice but never in normal skin (P ‫؍‬ 0.000022). More than 50% of these fetal cells expressed the CD34, CD31, or von Willebrand factor endothelial cell markers. In addition, the Lyve-1 lymphatic antigen was expressed by more than 30% of fetal cells in mice. In conclusion, we show that melanomas during pregnancy frequently harbor fetal cells that have an endothelial phenotype. Further studies are needed to assess whether the fetal contribution to lymphangiogenesis may alter the prognosis of the maternal tumor. (Am

Fetal microchimerism in skin wound healing

“…These findings along with previous reports, including ours, converge toward the presence of fetal EPCs among the transferred FMCs. 11,12,18,19 Two important questions that we addressed were as follows: were FMCs recruited in high numbers de novo or did randomly transferred FMCs proliferate in situ after tissue injury? Did fetal EPCs respond to specific chemotactic and angiogenic signals as their maternal counterparts?…”

“…[5][6][7][8] Fetal microchimeric cells (FMCs) have been identified in larger numbers in pathological conditions, including cancer, inflammatory diseases or reparative processes as compared with normal tissues. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15] This recruitment capacity associated with their described plasticity 7,16 has suggested that the study of fetal cell microchimerism can inform on homing and engraftment of host stem cells in response to tissue injury. We recently investigated whether fetal microchimeric cells contributed to maternal wound healing and used this model to investigate the recruitment of distant EPCs in this process.…”

Fetal Microchimerism in Cancer Protection and Promotion: Current Understanding in Dogs and the Implications for Human Health

“…The mechanism of this association is unclear. In the case of melanoma, microchimeric cells have been suggested to contribute directly to lymphangiogenesis and tumor growth [25]. Because of the multiple factors known to contribute to these cancers over decades of life, the interacting mechanisms involving microchimerism are likely to be elusive.…”

Fetal Microchimeric Cells in a Fetus-Treats-Its-Mother Paradigm Do Not Contribute to Dystrophin Production in Serially ParousmdxFemales

“…FMCs selectively home to damaged tissues where they are found in a higher frequency than in uninjured control tissues [6,7]. They can either be a part of the inflammatory infiltrate or integrated into the surrounding maternal tissue, displaying niche-appropriate phenotypes [4,8].…”