Université de Fribourg

Breast cancer stem cells with tumor- versus metastasis-initiating capacities are modulated by TGFBR1 inhibition

Fico, Flavia ; Bousquenaud, Mélanie ; Rüegg, Curzio ; Santamaria-Martínez, Albert

In: Stem Cell Reports, 2019, vol. 13, no. 1, p. 1–9

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are defined by their ability to regenerate a tumor upon transplantation. However, it is not yet clear whether tumors contain a single CSC population or different subsets of cells with mixed capacities for initiating primary and secondary tumors. Using two different identification strategies, we studied the overlap between metastatic stem cells and tumor-initiating...

Université de Fribourg

MAGI1 mediates eNOS activation and NO production in endothelial cells in response to fluid shear stress

Ghimire, Kedar ; Zaric, Jelena ; Alday-Parejo, Begoña ; Seebach, Jochen ; Bousquenaud, Mélanie ; Stalin, Jimmy ; Bieler, Grégory ; Schnittler, Hans-Joachim ; Rüegg, Curzio

In: Cells, 2019, vol. 8, no. 5, p. 388

Fluid shear stress stimulates endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activation and nitric oxide (NO) production through multiple kinases, including protein kinase A (PKA), AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), AKT and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII). Membrane-associated guanylate kinase (MAGUK) with inverted domain structure-1 (MAGI1) is an adaptor protein that...

Université de Fribourg

Obesity promotes the expansion of metastasis-initiating cells in breast cancer

Bousquenaud, Mélanie ; Fico, Flavia ; Solinas, Giovanni ; Rüegg, Curzio ; Santamaria-Martínez, Albert

In: Breast Cancer Research, 2018, vol. 20, no. 1, p. 104

Obesity is a strong predictor of poor prognosis in breast cancer, especially in postmenopausal women. In particular, tumors in obese patients tend to seed more distant metastases, although the biology behind this observation remains poorly understood.Methods: To elucidate the effects of the obese microenvironment on metastatic spread, we ovariectomized C57BL/6 J female mice and fed them...

Université de Fribourg

PI3Kγ activity in leukocytes promotes adipose tissue inflammation and early-onset insulin resistance during obesity

Breasson, Ludovic ; Becattini, Barbara ; Sardi, Claudia ; Molinaro, Angela ; Zani, Fabio ; Marone, Romina ; Botindari, Fabrizio ; Bousquenaud, Mélanie ; Rüegg, Curzio ; Wymann, Matthias P. ; Solinas, Giovanni

In: Science Signaling, 2017, vol. 10, no. 488, p. eaaf2969

The phosphoinositide 3-kinase γ (PI3Kγ) plays a major role in leukocyte recruitment during acute inflammation and has been proposed to inhibit classical macrophage activation by driving immunosuppressive gene expression. PI3Kγ plays an important role in diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance. In seeking to determine the underlying molecular mechanisms, we showed that PI3Kγ action in...