Serum profiling using protein microarrays to identify disease related antigens.

ABSTRACT

Disease related antigens are of great importance in the clinic. They are used as markers to screen patients for various forms of cancer, to monitor response to therapy, or to serve as therapeutic targets (Chapman et al., Ann Oncol 18(5)868-873, 2007; Soussi et al., Cancer Res 601777-1788, 2000; Anderson and LaBaer, J Proteome Res 41123-1133, 2005; Levenson, Biochim Biophy Acta 1770847-856, 2007). In cancer endogenous levels of protein expression may be disrupted or proteins may be expressed in an aberrant fashion resulting in an immune response that bypasses self tolerance (Soussi et al., Cancer Res 601777-1788, 2000; Disis et al., J Clin Oncol 15(11)3363-3367, 1997; Molina et al., Breast Cancer Res Treat 51109-119, 1998). Protein microarrays, which represent a large fraction of the human proteome, have been used to identify antigens in multiple diseases including cancer (Anderson and LaBaer, J Proteome Res 41123-1133, 2005; Disis et al., J Clin Oncol 15(11)3363-3367, 1997; Hudson et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104(44)17494-17499, 2007; Beyer et al., J Neuroimmunol 24226-32, 2012). Typically, arrays are probed with immunoglobulin (Ig) samples from patients as well as healthy controls, then compared to determine which antigens (Ag's) are more reactive within the patient group (Hudson et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104(44)17494-17499).