R(+) Propranolol decreases lipid accumulation in hemangioma-derived stem cells
Authors: Tan Jerry W.H. , Wylie-Sears Jill , Seebauer Caroline T. , Mulliken John B. , Francois Mathias , Holm Annegret , Bischoff Joyce 
Published: July 2024

Background

Infantile hemangioma (IH) is a benign vascular tumor that undergoes an initial rapid growth phase followed by spontaneous involution. A fibrofatty residuum remains in many tumors and often necessitates resection. We recently discovered that R(+) propranolol, the non-β blocker enantiomer, inhibits blood vessel formation of IH patient-derived hemangioma stem cells (HemSC) xenografted in mice. HemSC are multipotent cells with the ability to differentiate into endothelial cells, pericytes, and adipocytes.

Objectives

We investigated how R(+) propranolol affects HemSC adipogenic differentiation and lipid accumulation, in vitro and in a preclinical murine model for IH.

Methods

We conducted a 10-day adipogenesis assay on 4 IH patient-derived HemSCs. Oil Red O (ORO) staining was used to identify the onset and level of lipid accumulation in HemSC while quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was conducted to determine the temporal expression of key factors implicated in adipogenesis. 5-20µM R(+) propranolol treatment was added to HemSC induced to undergo adiogenesis for 4 and 8 days, followed by quantification of lipid-stained areas and transcript levels of key adipogenic factors. We immunostained for lipid droplet-associated protein Perilipin 1 (PLIN1) in HemSC-xenograft sections from mice treated with R(+) propranolol and quantified the area using ImageJ.

Results

We found that different patient-derived HemSC exhibit a robust and heterogenous adipogenic capacity when induced for adipogenic differentiation in vitro. Consistently across four IH patient-derived HemSC isolates, R(+) propranolol reduced ORO-stained areas and lipoprotein lipase (LPL) transcript levels in HemSC after 4 and 8 days of adipogenic induction. In contrast, R(+) propranolol had no significant inhibitory effect on transcript levels encoding adipogenic transcription factors. In a pre-clinical HemSC xenograft model, PLIN1-positive area was significantly reduced in xenograft sections from mice treated with R(+) propranolol, signifying reduced lipid accumulation.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest a novel regulatory role for the R(+) enantiomer of propranolol in modulating lipid accumulation in HemSC. This highlights a novel role of R(+) propranolol in the involuting phase of IH and a strategy to reduce fibrofatty residua in IH.

What is already known about this topic?

Propranolol is the mainstay treatment for infantile hemangioma (IH), the most common tumor of infancy, but its use can be associated with concerning β-blocker side effects.

R(+) propranolol, the enantiomer largely devoid of β-blocker activity, was recently shown to inhibit endothelial differentiation of hemangioma-derived stem cells (HemSC) in vitro and reduce blood vessel formation in a HemSC-derived xenograft murine model of IH.

What does this study add?

R(+) propranolol inhibits lipid accumulation in HemSC in vitro.

R(+) propranolol does not affect mRNA transcript levels of key adipogenic transcription factors in differentiating HemSC in vitro.

R(+) propranolol reduces lipid accumulation in a pre-clinical xenograft murine model of IH.

What is the translational message?

The R(+) enantiomer of propranolol could be advantageous in terms of reduction in β-adrenergic side effects and fibrofatty tissue formation in the involuting phase of IH.

Less fibrofatty residua might reduce the need for surgical resection.

Disfigurement and associated psychosocial impacts might be improved in this young patient cohort.