The cancer cell secretome: A good source for discovering biomarkers?

Cancer is a leading cause of death. Early detection is usually associated with better clinical outcomes. Recent advances in genomics and proteomics raised hopes that new biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis or monitoring therapeutic response will soon be discovered. Proteins secreted by cancer cells, referred also as “the cancer cell secretome”, is a promising source for biomarker discovery. In this review we will summarize recent advances in cancer cell secretome analysis, focusing on the five most fatal cancers (lung, breast, prostate, colorectal, and pancreatic). For each cancer type we will describe the proteomic approaches utilized for the identification of novel biomarkers. Despite progress, identification of markers that are superior to those currently used has proven to be a difficult task and very few, if any, newly discovered biomarker has entered the clinic the last 10 years.     

The mediation of veratryl alcohol in oxidations promoted by lignin peroxidase: the lifetime of veratryl alcohol radical cation

The kinetics of decay of veratryl alcohol radical cation, generated by cerium(IV) ammonium nitrate induced oxidation of veratryl alcohol, have been followed spectrophotometrically in a stopped-flow apparatus. In acidic aqueous acetonitrile the radical cation was found to decay by a first-order process, due to deprotonation from the alpha-carbon leading to an alpha-hydroxybenzyl radical with the rate constant of 17.1+/-0.5 s(-1). This value is in full agreement with those obtained by pulse radiolysis studies but much lower than the value (1.2x10(3) s(-1)) indirectly determined by EPR experiments. The implications of these results with respect to the possible role of veratryl alcohol as a mediator in the oxidative biodegradation of lignin catalysed by lignin peroxidase are discussed.     

Molecular basis for herpesvirus entry mediator recognition by the human immune inhibitory receptor CD160 and its relationship to the cosignaling molecules BTLA and LIGHT

CD160 was recently identified as a T cell coinhibitory molecule that interacts with the herpesvirus entry mediator (HVEM) on antigen-presenting cells to deliver a potent inhibitory signal to CD4⁺ T cells. HVEM also binds to the coinhibitory receptor BTLA (B- and T-lymphocyte attenuator) and the costimulatory receptor LIGHT (which is homologous to lymphotoxins, exhibits inducible expression, and competes with the herpes simplex virus glycoprotein D for HVEM, a receptor expressed by T lymphocytes, or TNFSF14), thus regulating the CD160/BTLA/LIGHT/HVEM signaling pathway. To date, the detailed properties of the formation of these complexes, especially HVEM binding to the newly identified receptor CD160, and the relationship of CD160 with BTLA and LIGHT are still unclear. We performed N-terminal sequencing and a mass spectrometric analysis, which revealed that the extracellular domain of CD160 exists primarily in the monomeric form. The surface plasmon resonance analysis revealed that CD160 binds directly to the cysteine-rich domain 1-3 of HVEM with a similar affinity to, but slower dissociation rate than, that of BTLA. Notably, CD160 competed with BTLA for binding to HVEM; in contrast, LIGHT did not affect HVEM binding to either CD160 or BTLA. The results of a mutagenesis study of HVEM also suggest that the CD160 binding region on HVEM was slightly different from, but overlapped with, the BTLA binding site. Interestingly, an anti-CD160 antibody exhibiting antiangiogenic properties blocked CD160/HVEM binding. These results provide insight into the molecular architecture of the CD160/BTLA/LIGHT/HVEM signaling complex that regulates immune function.     

抗病毒天然免疫通路中IRF-3调控新机制

干扰素调节因子-3(interferon regulatory factor-3,IRF-3)是IRF家族中重要 转录因子之一,在调控干扰素(interferon, IFN)基因表达和抗病毒天然免疫反应中具有重要作 用. 最新发现的MITA (mediator of IRF-3 activation, 又称STING/ERIS)蛋白是宿主抗病 毒天然免疫反应中的一种重要调节分子. 病毒侵染时,MITA与IRF-3相互作用,特异性激活 IRF-3,并募集TANK结合激酶1（TANK binding kinase 1, TBK1）与IFN通路中的线粒体抗 病毒信号蛋白MAVS(mitochondrial anti-viral signaling protein)形成复合物,且MITA可 被TBK1磷酸化,诱导Ⅰ型IFN及IFN刺激基因(interferon stimulate genes, ISG)的表达 ,诱发抗病毒天然免疫反应. 同时还发现,泛素连接酶RNF5（ring finger protein 5）可对MITA 发生泛素化修饰从而抑制其对IRF-3活化,实现对宿主抗病毒天然免疫反应负调节作用. 本 室研究发现,严重性急性呼吸系统综合症冠状病毒(severe acute respiratory syndrome co ronavirus, SARS-CoV）和人类新型冠状病毒（human coronavirus NL63, HCoV-NL63）的 木瓜样蛋白酶（papain-like protease, PLP）利用其特有的去泛素化酶（deubiquitinase, DUB）活性,通过宿主细胞泛素-蛋白酶体信号系统对IRF-3的泛素化等翻译后修饰进行调节 ,从而成为该种病毒逃逸机体抗病毒防御系统主要手段之一.     

Amelioration of the ability to decolorize dyes by laccase: relationship between redox mediators and laccase isoenzymes in Trametes versicolor

The effect of redox mediators in the dye decolorization by two laccase isoenzymes from Trametes versicolor cultures supplemented with barley bran has been investigated. All the redox mediators tested, 1-hydroxybenzotriazole (HBT), promazine (PZ), para-hydroxybenzoic acid (pHBA) and 1-nitroso-2-naphthol-3,6-disulfonic acid (NNDS), led to higher dye decolorization than those obtained without mediator addition. Among the different tested mediators, PZ was the most effective one at a low range of concentration (0.5–50 μM) and the natural mediator employed, pHBA did not improve significantly the degree of decolorization, and was slightly inhibitory.The two laccase isoenzymes, LacI and LacII, showed different decolorization capability depending on the mediator used. No significant differences were detected for NNDS, however LacII was more effective than LacI in the presence of PZ, while in the presence of HBT LacI was the fastest and the most effective isoenzyme.     

Oxidation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by laccase of Coriolus hirsutus

The oxidation of five polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; anthracene, benzo()pyrene, fluoranthene, phenanthrene and pyrene was catalyzed by laccase from Coriolus hirsutus in the presence of the redox mediators, 2,2-azinobis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS) and 1-hydroxybenzotriazole (HBT). In the ABTS-mediated system, benzo()pyrene was the most rapidly oxidized substrate, with anthracene being the most rapidly oxidized in the HBT-mediated system. There was no clear relationship between the ionization potential and the oxidation of the substrates. ABTS increased the oxidation of benzo()pyrene more than HBT but the oxidation of the other PAHs tested were the opposite. The mediators used in conjunction increased the oxidation of benzo()pyrene compared to using the mediators alone.     

Screening for possible miRNA–mRNA associations in a colon cancer cell line

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs mediating the regulation of gene expression in various biological contexts, including carcinogenesis. Here, we screened putative associations between 34, 45, and 103 miRNAs and 164, 391, and 81 mRNAs via Argonaute1 (Ago1) or Ago2 immunoprecipitation (IP) experiments in a colon cancer cell line. We used a combination of RIP Seq analysis. RNAs that were co-immunoprecipitated with Ago1 or Ago2 were used for massively parallel small RNA and mRNA sequencing. The detected miRNAs and mRNAs were further associated with one another based on in silico target predictions. Analysis of the putative associations indicated that, although Ago1 and Ago2 shared a similar repertory of miRNAs, the mRNAs possibly regulated by those miRNAs seemed different. The mRNAs detected with Ago1 IP were indicated to be frequently associated with genes having constitutive cellular functions, regulated by a smaller number of miRNAs, and appeared to receive more stringent translational regulation. In contrast, putative miRNA-mRNA associations detected with Ago2 IP appeared to be related to signal transduction genes, which had a larger number of possible miRNA binding sites. We then conducted a similar analysis using the colon cancer cells cultured under hypoxia and identified potential hypoxia-induced miRNA-mRNA associations, which included several well-characterized cancer-related genes as novel putative miRNA targets.     

Lipid and lipid mediator profiling of human synovial fluid in rheumatoid arthritis patients by means of LC–MS/MS

Human synovial fluid (SF) provides nutrition and lubrication to the articular cartilage. Particularly in arthritic diseases, SF is extensively accumulating in the synovial junction. During the last decade lipids have attracted considerable attention as their role in the development and resolution of diseases became increasingly recognized. Here, we describe a capillary LC–MS/MS screening platform that was used for the untargeted screening of lipids present in human SF of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Using this platform we give a detailed overview of the lipids and lipid‐derived mediators present in the SF of RA patients. Almost 70 different lipid components from distinct lipid classes were identified and quantification was achieved for the lysophosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylcholine species. In addition, we describe a targeted LC–MS/MS lipid mediator metabolomics strategy for the detection, identification and quantification of maresin 1, lipoxin A₄ and resolvin D5 in SF from RA patients. Additionally, we present the identification of 5S,12S-diHETE as a major marker of lipoxygenase pathway interactions in the investigated SF samples. These results are the first to provide a comprehensive approach to the identification and profiling of lipids and lipid mediators present in SF and to describe the presence of key anti-inflammatory and pro-resolving lipid mediators identified in SF from RA patients.