Laura Broglio

Publications (2)5.21 Total impact

• Article: Gene expression profiling in nerve biopsy of vasculitic neuropathy.

  Jochen Kinter, Laura Broglio, Andreas J Steck, Markus Tolnay, Peter Fuhr, Norman Latov, Daniel Kalbermatten, Michael Sinnreich, Nicole Schaeren-Wiemers, Susanne Renaud
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  ABSTRACT: To investigate molecular mechanisms of peripheral nerve vasculitis, gene expression patterns in archived frozen sural nerve biopsies from patients with vasculitic neuropathy were compared to control nerves by DNA microarray technology. There was a striking upregulation of mRNA of genes involved in immune system processes. Of special interest was the activation of immunoglobulin genes, such as IGLJ3, IGHG3, IGKC, and IGL, and of several chemokines, such as CXCL9 or CCR2. Genes involved in vascular proliferation or remodelling such as CXC31 and AIF were also upregulated. Among the downregulated genes were the Krüppel-Like Transcription Factors KLF2, KLF4 and the nuclear orphan receptor NR4A1 genes known to be involved in endothelial cell activation. Thus, this gene expression profile analysis revealed that in peripheral nerve vasculitis a prominent activation of immune response related genes as well as genes involved in vascular proliferation is taken place, while genes inhibiting endothelial cell activation are down regulated. These data point to interesting mechanistic clues to the molecular pathogenesis of vasculitic neuropathies.
  Journal of neuroimmunology 08/2010; 225(1-2):184-9. · 2.84 Impact Factor
• Article: Allograft inflammatory factor-1: a pathogenetic factor for vasculitic neuropathy.

  Laura Broglio, Beat Erne, Markus Tolnay, Nicole Schaeren-Wiemers, Peter Fuhr, Andreas J Steck, Susanne Renaud
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  ABSTRACT: Allograft inflammatory factor-1 (AIF-1) is a cytokine that plays a major role in the immune response and proliferative vasculopathy that occur during chronic allograft rejection. The purpose of this study was to characterize the cellular expression pattern and pathogenetic role of AIF-1 in nerve biopsies from patients with vasculitic neuropathy. We performed immunohistochemistry in human nerve biopsies of 10 patients with vasculitic neuropathies (VASs), 6 with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathies (CIDPs), 5 with noninflammatory axonal neuropathies (NIANs), and 3 control nerves (CNs). In the CIDP and VAS nerves, AIF-1 expression was higher than in CN and NIAN nerves (P < 0.05). AIF-1 was increased in the arterial walls of VAS compared with CIDP nerves (P < 0.05). Vascular smooth muscle cells in vasculitic nerve express AIF-1 at a higher level compared with CIDP and NIAN. AIF-1 plays a role in inflammatory nerve disease and vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and may be a new molecular target for treatment.
  Muscle & Nerve 10/2008; 38(4):1272-9. · 2.37 Impact Factor