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Clinical, cellular, and molecular characterisation of cardiac rhabdomyoma in tuberous sclerosis

Part of: Surgery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2021

Hamood N. Al Kindi
Affiliation:
Aswan Heart Center, Aswan, Egypt Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman
Ayman M. Ibrahim
Affiliation:
Aswan Heart Center, Aswan, Egypt Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
Mohamed Roshdy
Affiliation:
Aswan Heart Center, Aswan, Egypt
Besra S. Abdelghany
Affiliation:
Aswan Heart Center, Aswan, Egypt
Dina Yehia
Affiliation:
Aswan Heart Center, Aswan, Egypt
Ahmed Nageeb Masoud
Affiliation:
Aswan Heart Center, Aswan, Egypt
Walid Simry
Affiliation:
Aswan Heart Center, Aswan, Egypt
Yasmine Aguib
Affiliation:
Aswan Heart Center, Aswan, Egypt National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK
Magdi H. Yacoub*
Affiliation:
Aswan Heart Center, Aswan, Egypt National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK Heart Science Centre, Harefield Hospital, London, UK
*
Author for correspondence: Prof Magdi Yacoub FRS, Heart Science Centre, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1895 828 893. E-mail: m.yacoub@imperial.ac.uk
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Abstract

Background:

Rhabdomyoma is the most common cardiac tumour in children. It is usually associated with tuberous sclerosis complex caused by mutations in TSC-1 or TSC-2 genes. This tumour typically regresses by unknown mechanisms; however, it may cause inflow or outflow obstruction that necessitates urgent surgery. Here we investigate the clinical features and the genetic analysis of patients with tuberous sclerosis complex presenting with large rhabdomyoma tumours. We also investigate the potential role of autophagy and apoptosis in the pathogenesis of this tumour.

Methods:

All the patients with cardiac rhabdomyoma referred to Aswan Heart Centre from 2010 to 2018 were included in this study. Sanger sequencing was performed for coding exons and the flanking intronic regions of TSC1 and TSC2 genes. Histopathological evaluation, immunohistochemistry, and western blotting were performed with P62, LC3b, caspase3, and caspase7, to evaluate autophagic and apoptotic signaling.

Results:

Five patients were included and had the clinical features of tuberous sclerosis complex. Three patients, who were having obstructive tumours, were found to have pathogenic mutations in TSC-2. The expression of two autophagic markers, P62 and LC3b, and two apoptotic markers, caspase3 and caspase7, were increased in the tumour cells compared to normal surrounding myocardial tissue.

Conclusion:

All the patients with rhabdomyoma were diagnosed to have tuberous sclerosis complex. The patients who had pathogenic mutations in the TSC-2 gene had a severe disease form necessitating urgent intervention. We also demonstrate the potential role of autophagy and apoptosis as a possible mechanism for tumourigenesis and regression. Future studies will help in designing personalised treatment for cardiac rhabdomyoma.

Information

Type
Original Article
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press
Figure 0

Table 1. Clinical and demographic data.

Figure 1

Figure 1. (a and b) illustrate the hypomelanotic macules (ash-leaf spots) (arrow), which are the common skin manifestation in tuberous sclerosis complex. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (c) T2 (d) T1 showing multiple nodules (arrow) in the periventricular location consistent with subependymal nodules.

Figure 2

Figure 2. (a) Echocardiogram (subcostal view) of patient 2 at presentation with a large tumour in the right ventricular outflow tract (b) follow-up echocardiogram of patient 2 showed spontaneous regression of the tumour (c) Four chamber apical echocardiographic view for patient 5 showing two large tumour masses in the right ventricle and left ventricle. The rhabdomyoma tumour in the left ventricle is obstructing the mitral valve and attached to its annulus.

Figure 3

Figure 3. (a) The mutational spectrum of TSC2 in tuberous sclerosis complex patient samples. The red symbol represents the patients from the current cohort with pathogenic variants. (b) A four-color chromatogram showing the results of the sequencing run of patients 1 and 4. Sequence analysis of exon-intron boundaries for TSC1 and TSC2 resulting in pathogenic mutations: c.4375C>T mutation exon 34 in TSC2 (Full chromatogram in figure S1). (c) A four-color chromatogram showing the results of the sequencing run of patient 3 showing the pathogenic mutation: c.1513C>T in exon 15 in TSC2 (Full chromatogram in figure S2).

Figure 4

Table 2. Detected pathogenic mutations in TSC2 (exons 1 to 41) gene.

Figure 5

Figure 4. (a and d) Periodic acid Shiff and picrosirius red staining for rhabdomyoma tumour tissue sections showing the general structure of rhabdomyoma tumour in contrast to right ventricular wall muscle from which the tissue was excised. (b and e) show tumour cells with a low level of vacuolation (dashed arrows) than others. (c) shows a magnified view of the rhabdomyoma spider-shaped distinguished cell morphology.

Figure 6

Figure 5. (a, b, c, and d) Immunohistochemical analysis of caspase3 and caspase7, showing an increased expression of both markers in the tumour region in contrast to the right ventricular wall. The expression of caspase3 was exclusively localised in the cytoplasm of the tumour cells (c, dashed arrow) in contrast to caspase7, where its expression was localised only to the stroma cells surrounding the tumour (f, arrow).

Figure 7

Figure 6. (a, b, c, and d) Immunohistochemical analysis of P62 and LC3b, showing an increased expression of both markers in the tumour region in contrast to the right ventricular wall tissue. The expression of P62 and LC3b was exclusively localised in the cytoplasm of the rhabdomyoma cells and not in the stromal cells (c, dashed arrow and f, arrow).

Figure 8

Figure 7. (a) Western blotting analysis of P62, caspase3, caspase7, and LC3b relative to glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase expression in protein extracts from rhabdomyoma tissue extracts in contrast to control (left ventricle) tissues, with their corresponding molecular weight. (b) Bar blot shows the increased expression level of each marker in rhabdomyoma tissues compared to controls. Quantification is normalised to glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase expression.

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