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Macrophage cholesterol efflux is a central step in reverse cholesterol transport, which helps to maintain cholesterol homeostasis and to reduce atherosclerosis. Lipophagy has recently been identified as a new step in cholesterol ester hydrolysis that regulates cholesterol efflux, since it mobilizes cholesterol from lipid droplets of macrophages via autophagy and lysosomes. In this review, we briefly discuss recent advances regarding the mechanisms of the cholesterol efflux pathway in macrophage foam cells, and present lipophagy as a therapeutic target in the treatment of atherosclerosis.
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Tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) and CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) have emerged as potential biomarkers in various human cancers. The aims of this study were to investigate the clinical characteristics of anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) patients according to the TAM numbers in the tumor tissue, and to evaluate the associations between CXCR4 expressions and macrophage densities in ATC tumor microenvironment.
Total 14 ATC samples from thyroid tissue microarray were used. Immunohistochemical staining was performed using anti-CD163 and anti-CXCR4 antibodies. According to the immunoreactivity of CD163, all subjects were divided into two groups: low-CD163 (
The mean diagnostic age was 65±7 years and the median tumor size was 4.3 cm, ranging 2.5 to 15 cm. Clinicopathological characteristics were not significantly different between low-CD163 and high-CD163 groups, while age of diagnosis was younger in high-CD163 group than that of low-CD163 group with marginal significance (56.9±5.5 years vs. 67.5±6.8 years,
Increased number of TAMs showed poor overall survival in ATC, suggesting TAMs are potentially a prognostic biomarker for ATC. CXCR4 expression was significantly correlated with CD163-positive TAM densities, which suggest the possible role of CXCR4 in TAM recruitments.
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Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play a tumorigenic role related to advanced staging and poor prognosis in many human cancers including thyroid cancers. Yet, a functional role of TAMs in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) has not been established. The aim of this study was to investigate TAM expression in human PTC with lymph node (LN) metastasis.
Thirty-six patients who underwent surgery after being diagnosed with PTC with LN metastasis were included. Primary tumor tissues were immunohistochemically stained with an anti-CD68 antibody and clinical characteristics according to TAM density were evaluated.
The TAM densities (CD68+ cells) varied from 5% to 70%, in all tumor areas, while few cells were stained in adjacent normal tissues. TAMs were identified as CD68+ cells with thin, elongated cytoplasmic extensions that formed a canopy structure over tumor cells. Comparing clinicopathologic characteristics between tumors with low (<25%) and high (25% to 70%) TAM densities, primary tumors were larger in the high density group than in the low density group (2.0±0.1 vs. 1.5±0.1;
TAMs were identified in primary PTC tumors with LN metastasis and higher TAM densities were related to larger tumor sizes, suggesting a tumorigenic role of TAMs in human PTCs.
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