Aberrant Mucin5B expression in lung adenocarcinomas detected by iTRAQ labeling quantitative proteomics and immunohistochemistry

Background

Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States and worldwide. The complex protein changes and/or signature of protein expression in lung cancer, particularly in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has not been well defined. Although several studies have investigated the protein profile in lung cancers, the knowledge is far from complete. Among early studies, mucin5B (MUC5B) has been suggested to play an important role in the tumor progression. MUC5B is the major gel-forming mucin in the airway. In this study, we investigated the overall protein profile and MUC5B expression in lung adenocarcinomas, the most common type of NSCLCs.

Methods

Lung adenocarcinoma tissue in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) blocks was collected and microdissected. Peptides from 8 tumors and 8 tumor-matched normal lung tissue were extracted and labeled with 8-channel iTRAQ reagents. The labeled peptides were identified and quantified by LC-MS/MS using an LTQ Orbitrap Velos mass spectrometer. MUC5B expression identified by iTRAQ labeling was further validated using immunohistochemistry (IHC) on tumor tissue microarray (TMA).

Results

A total of 1288 peptides from 210 proteins were identified and quantified in tumor tissues. Twenty-two proteins showed a greater than 1.5-fold differences between tumor and tumor-matched normal lung tissues. Fifteen proteins, including MUC5B, showed significant changes in tumor tissues. The aberrant expression of MUC5B was further identified in 71.1% of lung adenocarcinomas in the TMA.

Discussions

A subset of tumor-associated proteins was differentially expressed in lung adenocarcinomas. The differential expression of MUC5B in lung adenocarcinomas suggests its role as a potential biomarker in the detection of adenocarcinomas.     

DJ-1 may contribute to metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer

Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related death, about 40% human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients showed lymph node involvements. However, the precise mechanism for the metastasis is still not fully understood. This study was to analyze the potential molecular mechanism for lung cancer metastasis. In the current study, proteomics analysis by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) was performed first to identify the differentially expressed protein between the higher metastasis lung adenocarcinoma cell line Anip973 and the lower metastasis lung adenocarcinoma cell line AGZY83-a. We confirmed the result by RT-PCR, immunoblotting and immunocytochemistry analyses in these two cell lines. Then we examined the expression of the differentially expressed protein in tumor tissues of NSCLC patients by immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry analyses. Using 2-DE analysis, we have identified DJ-1 was expressed higher in the higher metastasis Anip973 compared to the parental cell line AGZY83-a, that was confirmed by RT-PCR, immunoblotting and immunocytochemistry analyses. In NSCLC patients?? tumor tissues study, immunoblotting data showed that, DJ-1 expression level was significantly higher in 72.2% (13/18) of NSCLC tissue samples compared to that in paired normal lung tissues (P?=?0.044). Immunohistochemistry analysis demonstrated increased DJ-1 expression in 85 NSCLC tumor tissue samples compared with 7 normal lung tissue samples (P?=?0.044). DJ-1 expression was also found to be significantly correlated with cancer lymphatic metastasis (P?=?0.039). DJ-1 might contribute to the metastasis of NSCLC.     

A multiple marker analysis of apoptosis-associated protein expression in non-small cell lung cancer in a Chinese population

A failure to undergo apoptosis is widely thought to be an important event in cancer formation and progression. Although there have been many studies in vitro that provide evidence for this suggestion, the roles of apoptosis-associated proteins in cancer tissues in vivo are not as yet fully understood. Moreover, multiple marker analyses of apoptosis-associated protein expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues are scarce. In the present study, we investigate the expression of a group of apoptosis-associated proteins including bcl-2, caspase-3, fas, fas ligand (fasL) and survivin, and its clinical significance in NSCLC tissues using immunohistochemistry (IHC). Bcl-2 staining in cancer tissue cells was found in cytoplasm and the positive rate was 38.2% (29/76). Caspase-3 staining was mainly seen in cytoplasm of cancer tissue cells (53.9% [41/76]) with a few cases of nuclear staining (6.6% [5/76]). Fas staining was seen in cytomembrane (15.8% [12/76]) and cytoplasm (42.1% [32/76]) of cancer tissue cells. Likewise, fasL also showed staining in cytoplasm (55.3% [42/76]) and cytomembrane (44.7% [34/76]) of cancer tissue cells. Survivin staining was seen in cytoplasm but not nuclear of cancer tissue cells and the positive rate was 48.7% (37/76). Higher cytoplasm expression of bcl-2 was associated with large tumor size (≥ 3 cm) in NSCLC (p < 0.05). Decreased cytoplasm expression of fas was associated with poor grade in NSCLC (p < 0.05). A negative correlation was found between bcl-2 and cytoplasm caspase-3 expression in NSCLC (p < 0.001). No separate expression of the apoptosis-associated proteins in NSCLC was linked to overall survival of patients (p > 0.05). Multiple marker analyses revealed caspase-3+/cytomembrane fasL- to be linked to better survival of patients with NSCLC (p < 0.05). These results indicate that apoptosis- -associated proteins may impact a variety of clinicopathological features of NSCLC and may co-operatively influence the prognosis of patients with this malignant tumor.     

Identification of vascular breast tumor markers by laser capture microdissection and label-free LC-MS

Blood vessels in tumors frequently show abnormal characteristics, such as tortuous morphology or leakiness, but very little is known about protein expression in tumor vessels. In this study, we have used laser capture microdissection (LCM) to isolate microvessels from clinical samples of invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), the most common form of malignant breast cancer, and from patient-matched adjacent nonmalignant tissue. This approach eliminates many of the problems associated with the heterogeneity of clinical tumor tissues by controlling for differences in protein expression between both individual patients and different cell types. Proteins from the microvessels were trypsinized and the resulting peptides were quantified by a label-free nanoLC-MS method. A total of 86 proteins were identified that are overexpressed in tumor vessels relative to vessels isolated from the adjacent nonmalignant tissue. These proteins include well-known breast tumor markers such as Periostin and Tenascin C but also proteins with lesser-known or emerging roles in breast cancer and tumor angiogenesis (i.e., Serpin H1, Clic-1, and Transgelin 2). We also identified 40 proteins that were relatively under-expressed in IDC tumor vessels, including several components of the basement membrane whose lower expression could be responsible for weakening tumor vessels. Lastly, we show that a subset of 29 proteins, derived from our list of differentially expressed proteins, is able to predict survival in three publicly available clinical breast cancer microarray data sets, which suggests that this subset of proteins likely plays a functional role in cancer progression and outcome.     

非小细胞肺癌组织PAK4、PAK5蛋白表达与上皮-间质转化、临床病理特征和预后的关系分析

摘要 目的：探讨非小细胞肺癌（NSCLC）组织p21激活激酶（PAK）4、PAK5蛋白表达与上皮-间质转化（EMT）、临床病理特征和预后的关系。方法：选取2018年1月～2019年12月我院收治的100例NSCLC患者,收集手术切除的癌组织和癌旁组织标本,采用免疫组化法检测NSCLC组织和癌旁组织中PAK4、PAK5和EMT相关蛋白[E-钙粘蛋白（E-Cad）、N-钙粘蛋白（N-Cad）和波形蛋白（VIM）]表达。分析PAK4、PAK5蛋白表达与NSCLC患者病理特征的关系和与EMT相关蛋白的相关性。根据NSCLC组织中PAK4、PAK5表达分为阳性/阴性表达组,采用K-M法绘制PAK4、PAK5阳性/阴性表达NSCLC患者的生存曲线,多因素Cox回归分析NSCLC患者死亡的影响因素。结果：与癌旁组织相比,NSCLC组织中PAK4、PAK5、N-Cad、VIM蛋白阳性表达率升高,E-Cad蛋白阳性表达率降低（P＜0.05）。二列相关性分析显示,NSCLC组织PAK4、PAK5与E-Cad蛋白阳性表达率呈负相关,与N-Cad、VIM蛋白阳性表达率呈正相关（P均＜0.001）。不同分化程度、TNM分期、淋巴结转移NSCLC患者PAK4、PAK5蛋白阳性表达率比较,差异有统计学意义（P＜0.05）。100例NSCLC患者3年总生存率为56.00%（56/100）。K-M生存曲线分析显示,PAK4、PAK5阳性表达组总生存率低于阴性表达组（P＜0.05）。多因素Cox回归分析显示,低分化、TNM分期为ⅢA期、淋巴结转移和PAK4、PAK5蛋白阳性表达为NSCLC患者死亡的独立危险因素（P＜0.05）。结论：NSCLC组织PAK4、PAK5蛋白表达升高,与EMT、分化程度、TNM分期、淋巴结转移和预后有关,可能成为NSCLC诊治的新靶点。     

Identification of differentially expressed proteins in colorectal cancer by proteomics: down-regulation of secretagogin

To identify proteins with colorectal cancer-specific regulation, comparative 2-DE of individual-matched normal and neoplastic colorectal tissue specimens was performed. We found 15 protein spots with concordantly increased and 20 protein spots with concordantly decreased intensity in tumor tissue (expression regulation more than fivefold). Nine of these proteins were identified by MS/MS. Interestingly, one of the proteins, which exhibited a marked down-regulation in colorectal cancer tissues, was the recently identified endocrine cell-expressed protein secretagogin. The reduction of the secretagogin content in colorectal cancer tissues was confirmed by comparative immunoblotting (n = 17) and RT-PCR (n = 22) as well as by immunohistochemistry (n = 45) of individual-matched neoplastic and normal colorectal tissue specimens. Immunohistochemistry revealed absence of secretagogin-expressing cells in most of the colorectal cancer tissue specimens. However, some colorectal cancers were characterized by secretagogin-expressing cells. In normal mucosa, positively stained cells exhibited a neuroendocrine cell-characteristic morphology and mucosal location. In colorectal cancer tissues, secretagogin-expressing cells were characterized by a malignant morphology. Our findings might represent the basis for the clinical application of secretagogin as a biomarker for a distinct subgroup of colorectal cancers.     

High expression of nuclear factor of activated T cells in Chinese primary non-small cell lung cancer tissues

PURPOSE: Nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) has been reported to be involved in the development of various types of cancer including adenocarcinoma of the breast. This research was the first to investigate NFAT protein expression in primary non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues from Chinese patients. METHODS: NFAT protein expression was determined in 130 surgically resected primary NSCLC and matched normal tissues by immunohistochemical analysis. The association between NFAT expression and clinical categorical variables was further analyzed with the SPSS software. RESULTS: We found that NFAT expression was much higher in 85 tumor tissues (65.4%) and lower in 45 tumor tissues (34.6%) compared with the matched normal tissues. Further statistical analysis by the chi-square test showed that high expression of NFAT proteins was significantly associated with tumor differentiation (p=0.045), invasion (p=0.031), histology (p<0.0001), tumor size (p=0.038) and cigarette smoking history (p=0.024). However, there was no correlation between the expression of NFAT proteins and pTNM classification, and no difference in 5-year survival rate between patients with high or low expression of NFAT proteins. Multivariate logistic regression analysis for the correlation between NFAT protein expression levels and various characteristics showed a significant association with histology (p=0.008, OR=0.273). CONCLUSION: Our results revealed that high NFAT expression was present in Chinese NSCLCs and that NFAT expression might be involved in the process of human lung cancer development.     

Expression profiling of more than 3500 proteins of MSS-type colorectal cancer by stable isotope labeling and mass spectrometry

An efficient means of identifying protein biomarkers is essential to proper cancer management. A well-characterized proteome resource holds special promise for the discovery of novel biomarkers. However, quantification of the differences between physiological conditions together with deep down profiling has become increasingly challenging in proteomics. Here, we perform expression profiling of the colorectal cancer (CRC) proteome by stable isotope labeling and mass spectrometry. Quantitative analysis included performing mTRAQ and cICAT labeling in a pooled sample of three microsatellite stable (MSS) type CRC tissues and a pooled sample of their matched normal tissues. We identified and quantified a total of 3688 proteins. Among them, 1487 proteins were expressed differentially between normal and cancer tissues by higher than 2-fold; 1009 proteins showed increased expression in cancer tissue, whereas 478 proteins showed decreased expression. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that our data were largely consistent with known CRC relevant signaling pathways, such as the Wnt/β-catenin, caveolar-mediated endocytosis, and RAN signaling pathways. Mitochondrial dysfunction, known as the Waburg hypothesis, was also confirmed. Therefore, our data showing alterations in the proteomic profile of CRC constitutes a useful resource that may provide insights into tumor progression with later goal of identifying biologically and clinically relevant marker proteins. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Proteomics: The clinical link.     

非小细胞肺癌中HMGA2的表达与细胞增殖的关系

目的探讨High mobility group A2 protein（HMGA2）的表达对非小细胞肺癌生长、转移的影响,与临床病理参数和细胞增殖的关系。方法应用免疫组化法检测38例非小细胞肺癌组织（23例鳞癌,15例腺癌）及癌旁的正常肺组织标本中HMGA2和Ki-67的表达。结果HMGA2和Ki-67在癌旁的正常肺组织中均不表达,而在肺癌组织中的表达阳性率分别为39．47％、44．74％,二者在肺癌组和癌旁的正常肺组织组之间差异有显著性（P〈0．05）。HMGA2的表达在伴淋巴结转移的肺癌组织明显高于不伴有淋巴结转移的肺癌组织（P〈0．05）,而与其他临床病理参数包括肿瘤的分化程度、肿瘤大小和TNM分期以及细胞增殖指标Ki-67之间没有相关性。结论本研究显示HMGA2在非小细胞肺癌组织中异常表达,可能与肺癌的发生和进展有关。     

Global expression study in colorectal cancer on proteins with alkaline isoelectric point by two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis

Colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death worldwide. To identify candidates for biomarkers and therapeutic targets, we investigated the proteome of colorectal cancer tissues. Using 2D-DIGE in combination with our original large format electrophoresis apparatus, we compared surgically resected normal and tumor tissues from 53 patients with colorectal cancer. We focused on proteins with an alkaline pI using IPG gels for the alkaline range. We observed 1687 protein spots, and found 100 spots with statistical (p<0.01) and significant (>2-fold) differences between the normal and the tumor tissue groups. Among these 100 protein spots, five showed a different intensity between tumor tissues from the stage-II and the stage-III patients. MS experiments revealed that these 100 protein spots corresponded to 58 unique proteins. These included six proteins which had not been previously reported to be associated with colorectal cancer. Among these proteins, five were not reported in any type of malignancy. IEF/western blotting confirmed the differences in protein expression between the normal and the tumor tissues. These results may provide an insight for biomarker development and drug target discovery in colorectal cancer.     

Proteomics analysis of human serum of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer reveals proteins as diagnostic biomarker candidates

Non-small-cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer and it has a poor prognosis, because overall survival after 5 years is 20–25% for all stages. Thus, it is extremely important to increase the survival rate in the early stages NSCLC by focusing on novel screening tests of cancer identifying specific biomarkers expression associated with a more accurate tumor staging and patient prognosis. In this study, we focused our attention on quantitative proteomics of three heavily glycosylated serum proteins: AMBP, α2 macroglobulin, and SERPINA1. In particular, we analyzed serum samples from 20 NSCLC lung adenocarcinoma cancer patients in early and advanced stages, and 10 healthy donors to obtain a relative quantification through the MRM analysis of these proteins that have shown to be markers of cancer development and progression. AMBP, α2 macroglobulin, and SERPINA1 were chosen because all of them possess endopeptidase inhibitor activity and play key roles in cancer. We observe a variation in the expression of these proteins linked to the stage of the disease. Therefore, we believe that proteins like α2 macroglobulin, αmicroglobulin/bikunin, and SERPINA1 could be useful biomarkers for early detection of lung cancer and in monitoring its evolution.     

Differentially expressed and activated proteins associated with non small cell lung cancer tissues

Background

Lung cancer is a leading cause of mortality. The most common cancer subtype, non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), accounts for 85-90 % all cases and is mainly caused by environmental and genetic factors. Mechanisms involved in lung carcinogenesis include deregulation of several kinases and molecular pathways affecting cell proliferation, apoptosis and differentiation. Despite advances in lung cancer detection, diagnosis and staging, survival rate still remains poor and novel biomarkers for both diagnosis and therapy need to be identified. In the present study, we have explored the potential of novel specific biomarkers in the diagnosis of NSCLC, and the over-expression/activation of several kinases involved in disease development and progression.

Method

Lung tumor tissue specimens and adjacent cancer-free tissues from 8 NSCLC patients undergoing surgery were collected. The differential activation status of ERK1/2, AKT and IKBα/NF-κβ was analyzed. Subsequently, protein expression profile of NSCLC vs normal surrounding tissue was compared by a proteomic approach using LC-MS MS. Subsequently, MS/MS outputs were analyzed by the Protein Discoverer platform for label-free quantitation analysis. Finally, results were confirmed by western blotting analysis.

Results

This study confirms the involvement of ERK1/2, AKT, IKBα and NF-κβ proteins in NSCLC demonstrating a significant over-activation of all tested proteins. Furthermore, we found significant differential expression of 20 proteins (R_sc ≥ 1.50 or ≤ −1.50) of which 7 are under-expressed and 13 over-expressed in NSCLC lung tissues. Finally, we validated, by western blotting, the two most under-expressed NSCLC tissue proteins, carbonic anhydrase I and II isoforms.

Conclusion

Our data further support the possibility of developing both diagnostic tests and innovative targeted therapy in NSCLC. In addition to selective inhibitors of ERK1/2, AKT, IKBα and NF-κβ, as therapeutic options, our data, for the first time, indicates carbonic anhydrase I and II as attractive targets for development of diagnostic tools enabling selection of patients for a more specific therapy in NSCLC.     

WT1 Promotes Cell Proliferation in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cell Lines through Up-Regulating Cyclin D1 and p-pRb In Vitro and In Vivo

The Wilms’ tumor suppressor gene (WT1) has been identified as an oncogene in many malignant diseases such as leukaemia, breast cancer, mesothelioma and lung cancer. However, the role of WT1 in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) carcinogenesis remains unclear. In this study, we compared WT1 mRNA levels in NSCLC tissues with paired corresponding adjacent tissues and identified significantly higher expression in NSCLC specimens. Cell proliferation of three NSCLC cell lines positively correlated with WT1 expression; moreover, these associations were identified in both cell lines and a xenograft mouse model. Furthermore, we demonstrated that up-regulation of Cyclin D1 and the phosphorylated retinoblastoma protein (p-pRb) was mechanistically related to WT1 accelerating cells to S-phase. In conclusion, our findings demonstrated that WT1 is an oncogene and promotes NSCLC cell proliferation by up-regulating Cyclin D1 and p-pRb expression.     

Pirh2和P27kip1蛋白在肺癌中的表达及其临床意义

目的探讨pirh2、p27Kip1在肺癌和癌旁组织中表达的相关性及其与肿瘤发生发展的关系。方法应用免疫组织化学S-P法检测53例肺癌和17例癌旁石蜡包埋存档标本组织中pirh2和p27kip1蛋白的表达,并对其所在肺癌组织不同病理类型、分级、和临床分期及转移中的表达水平进行对统计学分析。结果pirh2蛋白在肺癌组织中呈高表达,表达率为79.2%,P27Kip1蛋白呈低表达,为22.6%,二者与癌旁组织相比(阳性表达率分别为11.8%和64.7%),差异具有显著性意义(P<0.01),但是二者与肿瘤的病理类型、组织学分级、淋巴结转移和TNM分期均无明显相关关系(P>0.05)。Pirh2表达阳性的肺癌组织中,p27Kip1的阳性率较低,二者呈显著负相关。结论pirh2过表达和p27Kip1蛋白的低表达可促进肿瘤的发生;二者之间呈负性相关关系,提示降解p27Kip1蛋白可能是pirh2促进肿瘤形成的途径之一。     

Nucleostemin基因在非小细胞肺癌组织中的表达及意义

目的探讨Nucleostemin(NS,核干细胞因子)基因在非小细胞肺癌(non-small cell lung cancer,NSCLC)组织中的表达及临床意义。方法利用RT-PCR法检测13对NSCLC组织和癌旁正常组织中NS mRNA的表达;采用免疫组织化学SP法检测73例NSCLC组织和13例癌旁正常组织中NS蛋白的表达,并分析与NSCLC患者临床病理特征的关系。结果 NSCLC组织中NS mRNA相对表达强度(0.848±0.305)显著高于癌旁正常组织(0.153±0.020)(t=8.712,P0.01)。NS蛋白在NSCLC中的表达率为58.9%(43/73)显著高于癌旁正常组织中的表达率0%(0/13)(χ2=15.315,P0.01)。NS蛋白的表达率与NSCLC的组织类型及分化程度相关,腺癌组织的表达率为76.5%(26/34)明显高于鳞癌组织的表达率43.6%(17/39)(χ2=8.113,P0.01);低分化组织的表达率81.5%(22/27)明显高于高、中分化组织的表达率45.7%(21/46)(χ2=9.023,P0.01),而与患者性别、年龄、肿瘤大小、TNM分期及淋巴结转移无关(P0.05)。结论 NS基因mRNA及蛋白在NSCLC组织中高表达,对肿瘤细胞的恶性增殖起了重要作用,是一个新的有应用价值的肿瘤分子标志物。     

Elucidating Novel Serum Biomarkers Associated with Pulmonary Tuberculosis Treatment

In an unbiased approach to biomarker discovery, we applied a highly multiplexed proteomic technology (SOMAscan, SomaLogic, Inc, Boulder, CO) to understand changes in proteins from paired serum samples at enrollment and after 8 weeks of TB treatment from 39 patients with pulmonary TB from Kampala, Uganda enrolled in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Tuberculosis Trials Consortium (TBTC) Study 29. This work represents the first large-scale proteomic analysis employing modified DNA aptamers in a study of active tuberculosis (TB). We identified multiple proteins that exhibit significant expression differences during the intensive phase of TB therapy. There was enrichment for proteins in conserved networks of biological processes and function including antimicrobial defense, tissue healing and remodeling, acute phase response, pattern recognition, protease/anti-proteases, complement and coagulation cascade, apoptosis, immunity and inflammation pathways. Members of cytokine pathways such as interferon-gamma, while present, were not as highly represented as might have been predicted. The top proteins that changed between baseline and 8 weeks of therapy were TSP4, TIMP-2, SEPR, MRC-2, Antithrombin III, SAA, CRP, NPS-PLA2, LEAP-1, and LBP. The novel proteins elucidated in this work may provide new insights for understanding TB disease, its treatment and subsequent healing processes that occur in response to effective therapy.