Cimpean Anca Maria

Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Timisoara | UMFT · DEPARTMENT OF MICROSCOPIC MORPHOLOGY/HISTOLOGY, ANGIOGENESIS RESEARCH CENTER TIMISOARA

Breast cancer remains one of the most challenging diseases, with unexpected behavior even after several years of remission. Breast cancer molecular classification represented a big step in the elucidation of this malignant heterogeneity, but it seems that it is not enough to explain some hidden sides of the disease, especially the development of th...

A rare, uncommon disorder called PHACE(S) (P-posterior fossa anomalies, H-hemangioma, A-arterial anomalies, C-cardiac anomalies, E-eye anomalies, and S-sternal cleft) of unknown etiology was rarely reported. Children are susceptible to developing PHACE(S) syndrome from the moment they are born. It may be challenging for a physician to appropriately...

Background: Overexpression of chloride intracellular channel protein 1 (CLIC1) in tumor cells has been confirmed, but it has received less attention in the tumor blood vessel endothelium. Aim: The assessment of CLIC1 expression in ccRCC tumor blood vessels and its relationship with TNM parameters and tumor cell CLIC1 expression. Methods: CLIC1...

Cushing's disease represents a rare endocrine disorder caused by hypercortisolism due to an ACTH-secreting pituitary tumor. Pituitary adenomas (PAs) are mostly benign tumors but may have features of invasiveness and aggressiveness. They are clinically classified by their hormone-secreting characteristics. Expression of pituitary hormones in adenohy...

Background/aim: We previously described four different vascular patterns (reticular, diffuse, fasciculate, and trabecular) in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) suggesting an early and heterogeneous acquisition of perivascular cells most probably due to a particular PDGF pathway gene expression profile. The aim of the study was to study PDGF pathway gene...

Background. Infantile hemangiomas may have unexpected behavior. Initial regression (spontaneously or drug-induced) may be followed by unexplained recurrences. At this moment, there are no well-established criteria to predict infantile hemangioma reccurrences. Methods. We compared the VEGF pathway gene expression profile for one case of involuting i...

Background/aim: Chloride intracellular channel protein 1 (CLIC1) is known as a promoter of cancer progression, metastasis, and angiogenesis. Thus, CLIC1 could be a future therapeutic target. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of anti-CLIC1 antibodies on tumour cells and vessels of human renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in rabbit cornea and chick em...

Background/aim: Understanding tumor vasculogenesis is a cornerstone for the inhibition of tumor progression. This study aimed to generate an in vivo breast cancer environment to analyze the patterns of tumor vasculogenesis. Materials and methods: Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) and breast cancer MCF-7 cells (MCF-7) were seeded onto a chorioa...

Introduction: The knowledge in the field of nerve regeneration is incomplete; there is a constant input of information regarding better techniques, materials, and more importantly the use of regenerative medicine. The adipose-derived stem cell is a new tool in this field with promising results and clearly stated advantages, like ease of harvest and...

Background/aim: Colon cancer liver metastases with desmoplastic growth pattern (dGP) have a highly heterogeneous therapy response. The aim of the study was to evaluate the dGP liver metastasis molecular profile from a chemo-naive patient by mimicking metastatic process on an experimental chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model. Material...

Background/aim: Chloride intracellular channel protein 1 (CLIC1) activates inflammasomes in rheumatoid (RA) and psoriatic (PsA) arthritis. We studied CLIC1 expression in RA and PsA patients' skin with vasculitis and its variability depending on the therapy used. Materials and methods: CLIC1 immunoexpression was evaluated in the vascular (CLIC1-V...

Objective Controversial, heterogeneous, and inconsistent responses to beta-blockers have been reported in some cases of infantile proliferative hemangiomas. On the basis of these clinical observations, we aimed to examine the β1 adrenergic receptor (β1-AR) protein expression distribution among different types of pediatric vascular anomalies. Metho...

Background/aim: Renal cell carcinoma is strongly vascularized, and formation of new blood vessels is a complex and multi-step process. In this study, we analysed the subtypes of intermediate blood vessels, as shown by double immunohistochemistry. Materials and methods: Tumour-associated blood vessels were identified by double immunostaining base...

Keeping students motivated in conditions of social distancing is a real challenge for teachers. The use of alternative methods that are not perceived as a conventional way of learning increases student's curiosity. The game is a method of relaxation at any age, nowadays often combined with modern technology. Gamification is an alternative learning...

We compared two E-assessment platforms and we evaluated the impact of online versus on-site examination by analysing students' outcomes and classifying them into performance groups. Two groups of 480 (G1/2019) and 527 (G2/2020) 2 nd year medical students were included. G1 was assessed by using E-School Exam Module on-site, while G2 used FlexiQuiz a...

Background/aim: The histopathological variability of each type of pituitary adenoma (PA) that causes growth hormone (GH) excess influences the phenotype, radiological characteristics and therapy response of acromegaly patients. We correlated the immunohistochemical (IHC) features of GH-secreting PAs with their clinical, laboratory and imaging data...

Background/aim: Angiogenic growth factors expression is not known in the normal cornea. The aim was to study corneal gene expression profile of VEGF and PDGF pathways influencing the avascular state of cornea. Materials and methods: cDNA synthesis was performed from mRNA extracted from five fresh pig corneas followed by cDNA synthesis and analys...

Background/aim: Chloride intracellular channel protein (CLIC1), E- and P-cadherin (Ecad, Pcad) are certified factors of aggressivity, but they have not been studied in breast cancer to date. The aim was to study CLIC1, Ecad and Pcad impact on breast cancer in terms of defining new high-risk subgroups. Materials and methods: Ninety-seven breast c...

Most of angiogenesis assays were designed and developed during Folkman’s era. But the growth of new blood vessels in several pathologic conditions as tumor development or inflammation were observed long time ago. The development of new blood vessels was early observed by ancient Egyptians who tried to destroy them by applying empirical methods. Fro...

Background/aim: Invasive bladder cancer mortality remains high despite progresses made in early diagnosis and surgical procedures. Thus, there is a need to define new markers for bladder cancer. CLIC1 has not been previously studied in bladder cancer and thus, we aimed to assess its immunohistochemical expression in relation to different stages of...

International Symposium on Electronics and Telecommunications 2020 November 5-6, 2020, "Politehnica" University of Timişoara, Romania

Background/aim: Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) represent a versatile cell population, able to modulate the tumor microenvironment. Our aim was to recreate an open scene for the in vivo interaction between hMSC and the MCF-7 breast cancer cells (MCF-7), in order to enlighten the intimate involvement of hMSC in tumor vasculogenesis and angiogen...

The frequency of the squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck is constantly increasing, with over 550.000 new cases registered globally each year. The conventional histopathological diagnosis most commonly indicates the squamous cell carcinoma as tumor type and G2 as differentiation grade. Despite of this relative morphological uniformity, ther...

Background/aim: E- and P-cadherin (E-cadh, P-cadh) control tumor cell invasion, metastatic or stemness potential and chemotherapy resistance. The study aimed to assess E- and P-cadherin expression in breast cancer molecular subtypes. Materials and methods: Immunohistochemistry for E-cadh and P-cadh was performed for 97 breast cancer cases. Membr...

Chronic stress is regarded as a significant factor in the etiology of the many diseases. Numerous methods have been developed through which the effect of chronic stress is examined. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the new experimental model for analysis of immuno-suppression induced by chronic restraint stress, through challenge with condit...

Background – digitalization in eastern European medical education is a stringent need of teaching and assessment processes, which must be updated to challenges continuously launched by medical students. In this context, our university implemented an e-learning and e-assessment system in histology, a preclinical education subject. Aim – to evaluate...

Background/aim: Chloride intracellular channel 1 (CLIC1) represents a promising target for personalized therapy. Our aim was to assess CLIC1 expression in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (cc RCC) and identify its possible prognostic role. Materials and methods: Fifty cases of cc RCC were evaluated and selected for immunohistochemistry. CLIC1 exp...

Background: The role of podoplanin (PDPN) and homebox prospero gene 1 (PROX1) in early stages of pancreatic islet changes induced by hypercaloric diet is unclear. The aim of this study was to study PDPN and PROX1 variability in pancreatic islets after a hypercaloric diet in a rat experimental model. Materials and methods: Pancreatic biopsies har...

Background/Aim: Chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity may be observed during treatment or may cause severe cardiac failure as the main cause of death, even several years after therapy implementation. Herein, the aim was to establish the early diagnosis of cardiotoxicity through the periodic evaluation of the left ventricular (LV) and vascular remodel...

Purpose. Clinically apparent anastomotic leakage (AL) after low anterior rectal resection (LAR; <7 cm from anal verge) using circular double-stapled anastomosis without defunctioning stoma is up to 37.5%. However, it is unclear whether there is reduction of LAR after 21 postoperative days without defunctioning stoma but with extraluminal anastomoti...

Background/aim: Mast cells (MCs) represent the most controversial non-malignant element of the tumor microenvironment. Our aim was to study how MCs density and distribution (intratumoral-MCit versus peritumoral-MCpt) relate to tumor grade and molecular subtypes. Materials and methods: MCs tryptase immunohistochemistry was performed on 80 cases o...

Anti-mCD99 antibodies induced by the TRXtr-mCD99 vaccine recognize native CD99 in tumor tissue. (A) Os-P0107 tumor tissues from control vaccinated mice were stained with either serum derived from TRXtr-vaccinated mice (TRXtr, left panels) or TRXtr-CD99 vaccinated mice (CD99, right panels). The upper right panel shows specific staining of CD99 as in...

Expression of CD99 in the tumor vasculature and vaccination strategy. (A) Different tumor types and normal healthy tissues stained for CD99 obtained from the Human Protein Atlas (scale bar 10 μm) and own staining of Ewing's sarcoma (EWS, right panels; upper panel scale bar 10 μm; lower panel scale bar 50 μm). All tumor types show staining of CD99 i...

Morphology of normal organs of TRXtr-mCD99 and TRXtr vaccinated mice of the long-term follow-up study. (A) Hematoxylin eosin staining of organs (heart, lung, kidney, liver) of TRXtr-mCD99 (n = 5; CD99) and control vaccinated (n = 5; TRXtr) mice from the long-term follow-up study (time point 45 weeks) (scale bar 35 μm). No difference in tissue morph...

Additional data osteosarcoma study I and II, CT26 study and long-term follow-up study. (A) Antibody titers of anti-CD99 antibodies in the sera of TRXtr (n = 5; left panel) and TRXtr-mCD99 (n = 10; CD99; middle and right panel) vaccinated mice at time point 9 weeks of study I Os-P0107 (C3H mice). TRXtr vaccinated mice are devoid of anti-CD99 antibod...

Human CD99 splice variants. (A) Human CD99 variants described in the NCBI database Gene ID: 4267. (B) Human CD99 variants described in the Ensembl database Gene: CD99 ENSG00000002586. (C) Alignment of the protein sequences of the different human CD99 splice variants.

CD99 (MIC2; single-chain type-1 glycoprotein) is a heavily O-glycosylated transmembrane protein (32 kDa) present on leukocytes and activated endothelium. Expression of CD99 on endothelium is important in lymphocyte diapedesis. CD99 is a diagnostic marker for Ewing's Sarcoma (EWS), as it is highly expressed by these tumors. It has been reported that...

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), its inhibitory splice variant, VEGF165b and Endocrine Gland derived VEGF (EG-VEGF) have a controversial role in pituitary gland. We aim to study VEGF, VEGF165b and EG-VEGF expression in pituitary adenomas. A significant correlation was found between growth hormone (GH) and VEGF secretion (P=0.024). For pro...

BACKGROUND/AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate SOX2 expression in pituitary adenomas and its correlation to their secretory state and clinicopathological parameters. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty-four patients were clinically evaluated and surgery was recommended for tumor removal. Histopathological diagnosis by hematoxylin eosin staining was...

Microscopic and molecular events related to alveolar ridge augmentation are less known because of the lack of experimental models and limited molecular markers used to evaluate this process. We propose here the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) as an in vivo model to study the interaction between CAM and bone substitutes (B) combined with...

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty patients diagnosed with AML with no cardiac history, having LV ejection fraction (LVEF) >50%, were evaluated at baseline and 6 months after starting four cycles of chemotherapy. We measured LV function, global longitudinal strain and subclinical atherosclerosis markers: intima-media thickness (IMT), arterial stiffness...

In children, lymphangiomas are extremely rare pathologic entities that are characterized by unusual locations. The mesenteric localization is extremely rare in children, and the clinical signs usually mimic an acute abdominal syndrome. For most of the cases, their diagnosis is established by the radiologist, and the main therapeutic option is repre...

The formation of new blood vessels, or angiogenesis, is a complex process that plays important roles in growth and development, tissue and organ regeneration, as well as numerous pathological conditions. Angiogenesis undergoes multiple discrete steps that can be individually evaluated and quantified by a large number of bioassays. These independent...

Aggressive tumor cells can adopt an endothelial cell‐like phenotype and contribute to the formation of a tumor vasculature, independent of tumor angiogenesis. This adoptive mechanism is referred to as vascular mimicry and it is associated with poor survival in cancer patients. To what extend tumor cells capable of vascular mimicry phenocopy the ang...

PDGFs/PDGFRs axis is documented as an important tumor-promoting agent and potential therapeutic target for several human carcinomas, including breast cancer. However, little is known about the role played by the PDGF family members in the normal development of the breast tissue, breast carcinogenesis and tumor-microenvironment dynamics Despite its...

Aim: To characterize baby hamster kidney fibroblast (BHK 21/C13) cells and test the effects of antibodies against podoplanin and disodium cromolyn on BHK 21/C13 cell line-derived tumors grown on chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM). Material and methods: BHK 21/C13 cell-derived fibrosarcomas developed in hamsters were implanted on CAM and...

Patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC) have a highly heterogeneous response to therapy and resistance to therapy appears early during treatment. We aim to study PDGF pathway expression profile correlated with tumor vessels type, grade invasion and growth factors expression. Fifty cases of CCRCC were preliminary evaluated by histopath...

Background: Few data are available regarding the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) /mesenchymal to epitheilal transition (MET) in the liver metastasis of digestive cancers. The aim of this study was to establish EMT/MET metastatic tumor cell plasticity according to the histological growth pattern of liver metastases. Materials and method...

BACKGROUND/AIM: Probably due to their low occurrence, chromophobe and papillary renal cell carcinomas are less well characterized and, currently, there are no reliable prognostic markers for this group of patients. Moreover, the optimal therapy for patients with non-clear renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is unknown yet. Although elevated levels of Galect...

BACKGROUND: Angiogenesis plays a pivotal role in tumor development. Although microvessel density (MVD) is the most common method used for evaluation of angiogenesis, it has several limitations. Our aim was to evaluate MVD and microvessel proliferation (MVP) in a series of invasive breast carcinomas and analyze whether angiogenesis is influenced by...

Background/aim: To analyze the interaction between the human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) and the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM), in order to assess the still obscure process of vasculogenesis. Materials and methods: We implanted hMSC onto CAM and we analyzed the morphology and the immunohistochemical profile of CAM. Results: hMS...

EDITORIAL Timisoara Days of Histology Marius Raica Dear Colleagues, Welcome to Timisoara to the first edition of Timisoara Histology Days. Why this meeting was organized? Maybe the most important reason is the major change done in teaching of histology. This year microscopes were removed from the labs for students and replaced with computers wit...

Background: Podoplanin (PDPN), a mucin-type transmembrane glycoprotein, is expressed in a variety of human cancer types, and contributes to tumor progression. Our goal was to evaluate PDPN expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using both immunohistochemistry (IHC) and RNAscope in situ hybridization. Materials and methods: Twenty patients...

Background/aim: To assess the concordance between IHC and FISH and its influence on tumor type, grade and lympho-vascular invasion (LVI). Materials and methods: HER2 immunohistochemistry (IHC) to 45 cases of bladder carcinoma, followed by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) were applied. Results: 31.12% cases were IHC positive. Less than...

Stela Iurciuc,1,2 Anca Maria Cimpean,3 Florin Mitu,4 Rodica Heredea,5 Mircea Iurciuc1,2 1Department of Preventive Medicine, Angiogenesis Research Center, “Victor Babes” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 2Clinical Emergency County Hospital “Pius Brînzeu,” 3Department of Microscopic Morphology/Histology, Angiogenesis Research Center, “Victor Babes...

The nineteenth century was the time of a real revolution in science and medicine. A lot of seminal discoveries in medicine and biology were done in this time, and many of them were coincident with the introduction of the compound microscope by Hermann van Deijl and the standard histological technique by Paul Ehrlich. The main tissue types and indiv...

Pituitary adenomas represent the third most common primary intracranial tumor in neurosurgical practice. To understand the biological behaviour of the pituitary adenomas previous studies have determined the tumor proliferation rate using monoclonal antibodies targeted against the Ki-67 antigen. The aim of this study was to correlate the Ki-67 index...

Mast cells, accumulate in the stroma surrounding certain tumors and take part to the inflammatory reaction occurring at the periphery of the tumor. Mast cell-secreted angiogenic cytokines facilitate tumor vascularization not only by a direct effect but also by stimulating other inflammatory cells of the tumor microenvironment to release other angio...

A lot of data suggests endocrine gland-derived vascular endothelial growth factor (EG-VEGF) to be restricted to endocrine glands and to some endocrine-dependent organs. Many evidences show that EG-VEGF stimulates angiogenesis and cell proliferation, although it is not a member of the VEGF family. At the time, a lot of data regarding the role of thi...

Aim: To evaluate the interaction between MCF-7 breast cancer cells and the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) and the ability of bevacizumab to modulate this process. Materials and methods: We implanted MCF-7 cells onto CAM and repeatedly added bevacizumab to a subset of eggs. We then evaluated the morphological and immunohistochemical...