Circulating proteomic biomarkers for diagnosing sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a cross-sectional study

JOURNAL/nrgr/04.03/01300535-202408000-00039/figure1/v/2023-12-16T180322Z/r/image-tiff Biomarkers are required for the early detection, prognosis prediction, and monitoring of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive disease. Proteomics is an unbiased and quantitative method that can be used to detect neurochemical signatures to aid in the identification of candidate biomarkers. In this study, we used a label-free quantitative proteomics approach to screen for substantially differentially regulated proteins in ten patients with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis compared with five healthy controls. Substantial upregulation of serum proteins related to multiple functional clusters was observed in patients with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Potential biomarkers were selected based on functionality and expression specificity. To validate the proteomics profiles, blood samples from an additional cohort comprising 100 patients with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and 100 healthy controls were subjected to enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Eight substantially upregulated serum proteins in patients with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis were selected, of which the cathelicidin-related antimicrobial peptide demonstrated the best discriminative ability between patients with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and healthy controls (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.713, P < 0.0001). To further enhance diagnostic accuracy, a multi-protein combined discriminant algorithm was developed incorporating five proteins (hemoglobin beta, cathelicidin-related antimicrobial peptide, talin-1, zyxin, and translationally-controlled tumor protein). The algorithm achieved an AUC of 0.811 and a P-value of < 0.0001, resulting in 79% sensitivity and 71% specificity for the diagnosis of sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Subsequently, the ability of candidate biomarkers to discriminate between early-stage amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients and controls, as well as patients with different disease severities, was examined. A two-protein panel comprising talin-1 and translationally-controlled tumor protein effectively distinguished early-stage amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients from controls (AUC = 0.766, P < 0.0001). Moreover, the expression of three proteins (FK506 binding protein 1A, cathelicidin-related antimicrobial peptide, and hemoglobin beta-1) was found to increase with disease progression. The proteomic signatures developed in this study may help facilitate early diagnosis and monitor the progression of sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis when used in combination with current clinical-based parameters.

Upregulation of TCTP is associated with cholangiocarcinoma progression and metastasis

In order to investigate the role of translationally-controlled tumor protein (TCTP) in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) progression and metastasis, TCTP protein staining in paraffin-embedded sections of human CCA tissue samples was examined using immunohistochemistry, and its expression was subsequently compared with clinicopathological parameters. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting TCTP (siTCTP) were transfected into CCA cell lines to evaluate its effects on cellular functions. The proliferation, tumorigenicity and migration abilities of the transfected cells were measured using sulforhodamine B, clonogenic and would healing assays, respectively. The protein levels of TCTP and its associated molecules were evaluated by western blot analysis. Of the 119 individual cases of CCA tissues analyzed, high TCTP scores were significantly correlated with overall metastasis (P=0.044) and a shorter survival time (P<0.001). Multivariate proportional hazards analysis revealed that TCTP is an independent indicator of poor prognosis in CCA (hazard ratio =2.864; P<0.001). siTCTP transfection suppressed CCA cell growth and migration abilities, compared with the control cells (P<0.01). The siTCTP reduced the protein levels of focal adhesion kinase (FAK), phospho-FAK, nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells and matrix metalloproteinase 9, suggesting potential roles of TCTP in regulating CCA progression and metastasis. In conclusion, the upregulation of TCTP is clinically significant in patients with CCA, serving roles in CCA progression, particularly in cell survival and metastasis. Suppression of TCTP may serve as a potential target in CCA prevention and treatment.