Downregulation of C3 and C4A/B complement factor fragments in plasma from patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the penis.

PURPOSE: To investigate the use of ClinProt technique to identify cancer markers in plasma of patients suffering from squamous cell carcinoma of the penis (SCCP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Plasma of 36 healthy subjects and 25 patients with penile carcinoma who underwent surgical treatment between June 2010 and June 2011 was collected and analyzed by the ClinProt/MALDI/ToF technique. Then the peptides were identified from the C8 MB eluted fraction of patients' and control subjects' plasma by LIFT MS/MS. RESULTS: A cluster of 2 peptides (A=m/z 1897.22 ± 9 Da and B=m/z 2021.99 ± 9 Da) was able to discriminate patients from control subjects. Cross validation analysis using the whole casuistic showed 62.5 % and 86.76 % sensitivity and specificity, respectively. The cluster also showed very high sensitivity (100 %) and specificity (97%) for SCCP patients that died due to the disease. Furthermore, patients with lymph node involvement presented sensitivity and specificity of 80 % and 97 %, respectively. These two peptides were identified by the proteomic approach based on a MALDI-TOF/TOF as fragments of C3 (m/z 1896.17) and C4a/b (m/z 2021.26) complement proteins. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that as the disease progresses, the fragments C3 and C4 A/B are less expressed in comparison with healthy subjects. These results may be useful as prognostic tools.

Chitotriosidase 1 in the cerebrospinal fluid as a putative biomarker for HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) progression.

Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1)-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) is an inflammatory neurodegenerative disease that affects motor, urinary, intestinal, and sensory functions. Typically, HAM/TSP is slowly progressive, but it may vary from limited motor disability after decades (very slow progression) to loss of motor function in a few years from disease onset (rapid). In this study, we aimed to identify prognostic biomarkers for HAM/TSP to support patient management. Thus, proteomic analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was performed with samples from HTLV-1 asymptomatic carriers (AC) (n=13) and HAM/TSP patients (n=21) with rapid, typical, and very slow progression using quantitative label-free liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. Enrichment analyses were also carried out to identify key biological processes associated with distinct neurological conditions in HTLV-1 infection. Candidate biomarkers were validated by ELISA in paired CSF and serum samples, and samples from HTLV-1-seronegative individuals (n=9) were used as controls. CSF analysis identified 602 proteins. Leukocyte/cell activation, immune response processes and neurodegeneration pathways were enriched in rapid progressors. Conversely, HTLV-1 AC and HAM/TSP patients with typical and very slow progression had enriched processes for nervous system development. Differential expression analysis showed that soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (sVCAM-1), chitotriosidase 1 (CHIT1), and cathepsin C (CTSC) were upregulated in HAM/TSP. However, only CHIT1 was significantly elevated after validation, particularly in HAM/TSP rapid progressors. In contrast, none of these biomarkers were altered in serum. Additionally, CSF CHIT1 levels in HAM/TSP patients positively correlated with the speed of HAM/TSP progression, defined as points in the IPEC-2 HAM/TSP disability scale per year of disease, and with CSF levels of phosphorylated neurofilament heavy chain, neopterin, CXCL5, CXCL10, and CXCL11. In conclusion, higher CSF levels of CHIT1 were associated with HAM/TSP rapid progression and correlated with other biomarkers of neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. Therefore, we propose CHIT1 as an additional or alternative CSF biomarker to identify HAM/TSP patients with a worse prognosis.

Downregulation of C3 and C4A/B complement factor fragments in plasma from patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the penis

To investigate the use of ClinProt technique to identify cancer markers in plasma of patients suffering from squamous cell carcinoma of the penis (SCCP).

Plasma of 36 healthy subjects and 25 patients with penile carcinoma who underwent surgical treatment between June 2010 and June 2011 was collected and analyzed by the ClinProt/MALDI/ToF technique. Then the peptides were identified from the C8 MB eluted fraction of patients' and control subjects' plasma by LIFT MS/MS.

A cluster of 2 peptides (A=m/z 1897.22 ± 9 Da and B=m/z 2021.99 ± 9 Da) was able to discriminate patients from control subjects. Cross validation analysis using the whole casuistic showed 62.5% and 86.76% sensitivity and specificity, respectively. The cluster also showed very high sensitivity (100%) and specificity (97%) for SCCP patients that died due to the disease. Furthermore, patients with lymph node involvement presented sensitivity and specificity of 80% and 97%, respectively. These two peptides were identified by the proteomic approach based on a MALDI-TOF/TOF as fragments of C3 (m/z 1896.17) and C4a/b (m/z 2021.26) complement proteins.

The results showed that as the disease progresses, the fragments C3 and C4 A/B are less expressed in comparison with healthy subjects. These results may be useful as prognostic tools. .