Study of the Connection Between Autoinflammatory Disease and the Development of a Mast Cell Tumor on the Example of Shar-Pei

Abstract

This article is devoted to the study of the connection between autoinflammatory disease and the development of a mast cell tumor on the example of Shar-Pei. The HAS2 gene, which is responsible for the synthesis of hyaluronic acid, in Shar-Pei has an increased expression due to which hyaluronic acid accumulates in the dermis, forming breed-defining skin phenotype — thik skin folds. It became known that hyaluronic acid is involved in immune reactions. Under normal conditions, it is in the high molecular weight fraction, but in abundant it begins to fragment into low molecular weight polymers interacting with the membranes of mast cells, as an antigen, due to chemical similarity with the microbial surface. Thus, mast cells and other immunocompetent cells initiate the inflammatory process. Therefore, the breed predisposition of Shar-Pei to the accumulation of hyaluronic acid can cause self-inflammatory diseases in dogs. The link with mastocytoma can be traced because hyaluronic acid also affects the proliferation and terminal differentiation of mast cells, interacting with the CD44 co-receptor of c-kit receptor. The KIT gene is marked by researchers as the gene responsible for the active proliferation of mast cells. There were found mutations in the same gene in dogs with a mastocytoma. Perhaps the appearance of hyaluronic acid in chronic inflammation, as well as in the development of mastocytoma indicate the presence of a connection between both pathological processes.