Utility of serum peptidome patterns of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients for comprehensive treatment

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: Strategy to develop clinical peptide biomarkers for more accurate evaluation of the pathophysiological status of this syndrome

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) is the most common and widely known as serious complication of pregnancy. As this syndrome is a major leading cause of maternal, fetal, and neonatal morbidity/mortality worldwide, many studies have sought to identify candidate molecules as potential disease biomarkers (DBMs) for use in clinical examinations. Accumulating evidence over the past 2 decades that the many proteolytic peptides appear in human humoral fluids, including peripheral blood, in association with an individual's health condition. This review provides the potential utility of peptidomic analysis for monitoring for pathophysiological status in HDP, and presents an overview of current status of peptide quantification technology. Especially, the technical limitations of the methods used for DBM discovery in the blood are discussed.

Novel circulating peptide biomarkers for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma revealed by a magnetic bead-based MALDI-TOFMS assay

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most common malignant neoplasms worldwide. Patients are often diagnosed at advanced stages with poor prognosis due to the absence of obvious early symptoms. Here, we applied a high-throughput serum peptidome analysis to identify circulating peptide markers of ESCC. Weak cationic exchange magnetic beads coupled to matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry was used for two-stage proteotypic peptide profiling in complex serum samples collected from 477 cancer patients and healthy controls. We established a genetic algorithm model containing three significantly differentially expressed peptides at 1,925.5, 2,950.6 and 5,900.0 Da with a sensitivity and specificity of 97.00% and 95.92% in the training set and 97.03% and 100.00% in the validation set, respectively. The model's diagnostic capability was significantly better than SCC-Ag and Cyfra 21-1, especially for early stage ESCC, with an achieved sensitivity of 96.94%. Subsequently, these peptides were identified as fragments of AHSG, TSP1 and FGA by linear ion trap-orbitrap hybrid tandem mass spectrometry. Notably, increased tissue and serum levels of TSP1 in ESCC were verified and correlated with disease progression. In addition, tissue TSP1 was an independent poor prognostic factor in ESCC. In conclusion, the newly established circulating peptide panel and identified proteins could serve as potential biomarkers for the early detection and diagnosis of ESCC. Nevertheless, a larger cohort will be required for further unequivocal validation of their clinical application.

Pinus massoniana bark extract inhibits migration of the lung cancer A549 cell line

The bark of Pinus massoniana is a traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of various health disorders. Previous studies have demonstrated that P. massoniana bark extract (PMBE) may induce the apoptosis of hepatoma and cervical cancer cells. However, whether PMBE is able to inhibit the migration of lung cancer cells requires further investigation. In the current study, the effects of PMBE on the viability of human lung cancer A549 cells were detected using an MTT assay. The migration of lung cancer cells following exposure to PMBE were quantified using wound healing and Transwell assays, respectively. The expression levels of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 were determined using western blotting. The results revealed that PMBE significantly inhibited the growth of the lung cancer cells. In addition, the wound closure rate and the migration of the lung cancer cells were suppressed by PMBE. Furthermore, the expression levels of MMP-9 were reduced. These findings indicated that PMBE is able to restrict the migration and invasion of lung cancer cells, and that PMBE may serve as a novel therapeutic agent for patients with metastatic lung cancer in the future.

Proteomics approach to identify biomarkers for upper gastrointestinal cancer

INTRODUCTION

The prognosis for patients with upper gastrointestinal cancers remains dismal despite the development of multimodality therapies that incorporate surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Early diagnosis and personalized treatment should lead to better prognosis. Given the advances in proteomic technologies over the past decades, proteomics promises to be the most effective technique to identify novel diagnostics and therapeutic targets. Areas covered: For this review, keywords were searched in combination with 'proteomics' and 'gastric cancer' or 'esophageal cancer' in PubMed. Studies that evaluated proteomics associated with upper gastrointestinal cancer were identified through reading, with several studies quoted at second hand. We summarize the proteomics involved in upper gastrointestinal cancer and discuss potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Expert commentary: In particular, the development of mass spectrometry has enabled detection of multiple proteins and peptides in more biological samples over a shorter time period and at lower cost than was previously possible. In addition, more sophisticated protein databases have allowed a wider variety of proteins in samples to be quantified. Novel biomarkers that have been identified by new proteomic technologies should be applied in a clinical setting.

Lentivirus mediated GOLPH3 shRNA inhibits growth and metastasis of esophageal squamous cancer

AIM

To investigate the role of Golgi phosphoprotein 3 (GOLPH3) in tumour growth and metastasis of esophageal squamous cancer.

METHODS

A lentiviral shRNA-vector was utilized to stably knockdown GOLPH3 in Eca-109 esophageal squamous cancer cells. mRNA transcription and protein expression of GOLPH3 were examined by real-time quantitative PCR and Western blotting, respectively. Cell proliferation activity was assessed by MTT assay and invasion and migration potentials by matrigel invasion and transwell motility assays.

RESULTS

Stable knockdown in the GOLPH3 cell line was established. PD-A gene expression was significantly suppressed by lentivirus-mediated RNAi, which resulted in reducing the capacity for cell proliferation, migration, invasion and adhesion in vitro. In vivo, GOLPH3 depletion resulted in inhibition of tumour growth, with stable decrease in the expression of GOLPH3 in tumor xenografts.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that lentivirus mediated silencing of the GOLPH3 gene has a significant anti-tumour effect on esophageal squamous cancer in vitro and in vivo. In addition, the results indicate that GOLPH3 might be an effective molecular target for gene therapy in esophageal squamous cancer.

Superoxide dismutase1 levels in North Indian population with age-related macular degeneration

Aim. The aim of the study was to estimate the levels of superoxide dismutase1 (SOD1) in patients of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and examine the role of oxidative stress, smoking, hypertension, and other factors involved in the pathogenesis of AMD. Methods. 115 AMD patients and 61 healthy controls were recruited for this study. Serum SOD1 levels were determined by ELISA and were correlated to various risk factors. Logistic regression model of authenticity, by considering SOD1 as independent variable, has been developed along with ROC curve. Results. The SOD1 levels were significantly higher in AMD patients as compared to those of the controls. The difference was not significant for wet and dry AMD. However, the difference was significant between wet AMD subtypes. Nonsignificance of the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit statistic (χ² = 10.516, df = 8, P = 0.231) indicates the appropriateness of logistic regression model to predict AMD. Conclusion. Oxidative stress in AMD patients may mount compensatory response resulting in increased levels of SOD1 in AMD patients. To predict the risk of AMD on the basis of SOD1, a logistic regression model shows authenticity of 78%, and area under the ROC curve (0.827, P = .0001) with less standard error of 0.033 coupled with 95% confidence interval of 0.762–0.891 further validates the model.