Functional characterization of the dural sinuses as a neuroimmune interface.

Despite the established dogma of central nervous system (CNS) immune privilege, neuroimmune interactions play an active role in diverse neurological disorders. However, the precise mechanisms underlying CNS immune surveillance remain elusive; particularly, the anatomical sites where peripheral adaptive immunity can sample CNS-derived antigens and the cellular and molecular mediators orchestrating this surveillance. Here, we demonstrate that CNS-derived antigens in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) accumulate around the dural sinuses, are captured by local antigen-presenting cells, and are presented to patrolling T cells. This surveillance is enabled by endothelial and mural cells forming the sinus stromal niche. T cell recognition of CSF-derived antigens at this site promoted tissue resident phenotypes and effector functions within the dural meninges. These findings highlight the critical role of dural sinuses as a neuroimmune interface, where brain antigens are surveyed under steady-state conditions, and shed light on age-related dysfunction and neuroinflammatory attack in animal models of multiple sclerosis.

Stabilizing the Proteomes of Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cells: Implications for Cancer Proteomics.

Previous work has shown that inhibition of abundant myeloid azurophil granule-associated serine proteases (ELANE [neutrophil elastase], PRTN3 [protease 3], and CTSG [Cathepsin G]) is required to stabilize some proteins in myeloid cells. We therefore hypothesized that effective inhibition of these proteases may be necessary for quantitative proteomic analysis of samples containing myeloid cells. To test this hypothesis, we thawed viably preserved acute myeloid leukemia cells from cryovials in the presence or the absence of diisopropyl fluorophosphate (DFP), a cell-permeable and irreversible serine protease inhibitor. Global proteomic analysis was performed, using label-free and isobaric peptide-labeling quantitation. The presence of DFP resulted in an increase of tryptic peptides (14-57%) and proteins (9-31%). In the absence of DFP, 11 to 31% of peptide intensity came from nontryptic peptides; 52 to 75% had cleavage specificity consistent with activities of ELANE-PRTN3. Treatment with DFP reduced the intensity of nontryptic peptides to 4-8% of the total. ELANE inhibition was 95%, based on diisopropyl phosphate modification of active site serine residue. Overall, the relative abundance of 20% of proteins was significantly altered by DFP treatment. These results suggest that active myeloid serine proteases, released during sample processing, can skew quantitative proteomic measurements. Finally, significant ELANE activity was also detected in Clinical Proteomics Tumor Analysis Consortium datasets of solid tumors (many of which have known myeloid infiltration). In the pancreatic cancer dataset, the median percentage of nontryptic intensity detected across patient samples was 34%, with many patient samples having more than half of their detected peptide intensity from nontryptic cleavage events consistent with ELANE-PRTN3 cleavage specificity. Our study suggests that in vitro cleavage of proteins by myeloid serine proteases may be relevant for proteomic studies of any tumor that contains infiltrating myeloid cells.

Protein Kinase Signaling Networks Driven by Oncogenic Gq/11 in Uveal Melanoma Identified by Phosphoproteomic and Bioinformatic Analyses.

Metastatic uveal melanoma (UM) patients typically survive only 2 to 3 years because effective therapy does not yet exist. Here, to facilitate the discovery of therapeutic targets in UM, we have identified protein kinase signaling mechanisms elicited by the drivers in 90% of UM tumors: mutant constitutively active G protein α-subunits encoded by GNAQ (Gq) or GNA11 (G11). We used the highly specific Gq/11 inhibitor FR900359 (FR) to elucidate signaling networks that drive proliferation, metabolic reprogramming, and dedifferentiation of UM cells. We determined the effects of FR on the proteome and phosphoproteome of UM cells as indicated by bioinformatic analyses with CausalPath and site-specific gene set enrichment analysis. We found that inhibition of oncogenic Gq/11 caused deactivation of PKC, Erk, and the cyclin-dependent kinases CDK1 and CDK2 that drive proliferation. Inhibition of oncogenic Gq/11 in UM cells with low metastatic risk relieved inhibitory phosphorylation of polycomb-repressive complex subunits that regulate melanocytic redifferentiation. Site-specific gene set enrichment analysis, unsupervised analysis, and functional studies indicated that mTORC1 and 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-biphosphatase 2 drive metabolic reprogramming in UM cells. Together, these results identified protein kinase signaling networks driven by oncogenic Gq/11 that regulate critical aspects of UM cell biology and provide targets for therapeutic investigation.

Proteins in Tumor-Derived Plasma Extracellular Vesicles Indicate Tumor Origin.

Cancer-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) promote tumorigenesis, premetastatic niche formation, and metastasis via their protein cargo. However, the proteins packaged by patient tumors into EVs cannot be determined in vivo because of the presence of EVs derived from other tissues. We therefore developed a cross-species proteomic method to quantify the human tumor-derived proteome of plasma EVs produced by patient-derived xenografts of four cancer types. Proteomic profiling revealed individualized packaging of novel protein cargo, and machine learning accurately classified the type of the underlying tumor.

Direct Proteomic Detection and Prioritization of 19 Onchocerciasis Biomarker Candidates in Humans.

Onchocerca volvulus, the causative agent of onchocerciasis, infects over 20 million people and can cause severe dermatitis and ocular conditions including blindness. Current treatments employed in mass drug administration programs do not kill adult female worms, and common diagnostic tests cannot reliably assess viability of adult worms. There is an urgent need for better diagnostic tests to facilitate monitoring the efficacy of new treatments and disease elimination efforts. Here, eight plasma samples collected from individuals infected with O. volvulus and seven from uninfected individuals were analyzed by MS/MS spectrometry to directly identify O. volvulus proteins present in infected but absent in uninfected control samples. This direct proteomic approach for biomarker discovery had not been previously employed for onchocerciasis. Among all detected proteins, 19 biomarker candidates were supported by two or more unique peptides, identified in the plasma of at least three O. volvulus-infected human samples and absent in all control samples. Comprehensive analysis and ranking of these candidates included detailed functional annotation and a review of RNA-seq gene expression profiles. Isotope-labeled standard peptides were run in parallel and validated MS/MS peptide identifications for 15 peptides from 11 of the 19 proteins, and two infected urine and one uninfected urine sample was used for additional validation. A major antigen/OVOC11613 was identified as the most promising candidate with eight unique peptides across five plasma samples and one urine sample. Additional strong candidates included OVOC1523/ATP synthase, OVOC247/laminin and OVOC11626/PLK5, and along with OVOC11613, and were also detected in urine samples from onchocerciasis patients. This study has identified a promising novel set of proteins that will be carried forward to develop assays that can be used for diagnosis of O. volvulus infections and for monitoring treatment efficacy.

Proteomic and phosphoproteomic landscapes of acute myeloid leukemia.

We have developed a deep-scale proteome and phosphoproteome database from 44 representative acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients from the LAML TCGA dataset and 6 healthy bone marrow-derived controls. After confirming data quality, we orthogonally validated several previously undescribed features of AML revealed by the proteomic data. We identified examples of posttranscriptionally regulated proteins both globally (ie, in all AML samples) and also in patients with recurrent AML driver mutations. For example, samples with IDH1/2 mutations displayed elevated levels of the 2-oxoglutarate-dependent histone demethylases KDM4A/B/C, despite no changes in messenger RNA levels for these genes; we confirmed this finding in vitro. In samples with NPMc mutations, we identified several nuclear importins with posttranscriptionally increased protein abundance and showed that they interact with NPMc but not wild-type NPM1. We identified 2 cell surface proteins (CD180 and MRC1/CD206) expressed on AML blasts of many patients (but not healthy CD34+ stem/progenitor cells) that could represent novel targets for immunologic therapies and confirmed these targets via flow cytometry. Finally, we detected nearly 30 000 phosphosites in these samples; globally, AML samples were associated with the abnormal phosphorylation of specific residues in PTPN11, STAT3, AKT1, and PRKCD. FLT3-TKD samples were associated with increased phosphorylation of activating tyrosines on the cytoplasmic Src-family tyrosine kinases FGR and HCK and related signaling proteins. PML-RARA-initiated AML samples displayed a unique phosphorylation signature, and TP53-mutant samples showed abundant phosphorylation of serine-183 on TP53 itself. This publicly available database will serve as a foundation for further investigations of protein dysregulation in AML pathogenesis.

Integrated Bottom-Up and Top-Down Proteomics of Patient-Derived Breast Tumor Xenografts.

Bottom-up proteomics relies on the use of proteases and is the method of choice for identifying thousands of protein groups in complex samples. Top-down proteomics has been shown to be robust for direct analysis of small proteins and offers a solution to the "peptide-to-protein" inference problem inherent with bottom-up approaches. Here, we describe the first large-scale integration of genomic, bottom-up and top-down proteomic data for the comparative analysis of patient-derived mouse xenograft models of basal and luminal B human breast cancer, WHIM2 and WHIM16, respectively. Using these well-characterized xenograft models established by the National Cancer Institute's Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium, we compared and contrasted the performance of bottom-up and top-down proteomics to detect cancer-specific aberrations at the peptide and proteoform levels and to measure differential expression of proteins and proteoforms. Bottom-up proteomic analysis of the tumor xenografts detected almost 10 times as many coding nucleotide polymorphisms and peptides resulting from novel splice junctions than top-down. For proteins in the range of 0-30 kDa, where quantitation was performed using both approaches, bottom-up proteomics quantified 3,519 protein groups from 49,185 peptides, while top-down proteomics quantified 982 proteoforms mapping to 358 proteins. Examples of both concordant and discordant quantitation were found in a ∼60:40 ratio, providing a unique opportunity for top-down to fill in missing information. The two techniques showed complementary performance, with bottom-up yielding eight times more identifications of 0-30 kDa proteins in xenograft proteomes, but failing to detect differences in certain posttranslational modifications (PTMs), such as phosphorylation pattern changes of alpha-endosulfine. This work illustrates the potency of a combined bottom-up and top-down proteomics approach to deepen our knowledge of cancer biology, especially when genomic data are available.

An Analysis of the Sensitivity of Proteogenomic Mapping of Somatic Mutations and Novel Splicing Events in Cancer.

Improvements in mass spectrometry (MS)-based peptide sequencing provide a new opportunity to determine whether polymorphisms, mutations, and splice variants identified in cancer cells are translated. Herein, we apply a proteogenomic data integration tool (QUILTS) to illustrate protein variant discovery using whole genome, whole transcriptome, and global proteome datasets generated from a pair of luminal and basal-like breast-cancer-patient-derived xenografts (PDX). The sensitivity of proteogenomic analysis for singe nucleotide variant (SNV) expression and novel splice junction (NSJ) detection was probed using multiple MS/MS sample process replicates defined here as an independent tandem MS experiment using identical sample material. Despite analysis of over 30 sample process replicates, only about 10% of SNVs (somatic and germline) detected by both DNA and RNA sequencing were observed as peptides. An even smaller proportion of peptides corresponding to NSJ observed by RNA sequencing were detected (<0.1%). Peptides mapping to DNA-detected SNVs without a detectable mRNA transcript were also observed, suggesting that transcriptome coverage was incomplete (∼80%). In contrast to germline variants, somatic variants were less likely to be detected at the peptide level in the basal-like tumor than in the luminal tumor, raising the possibility of differential translation or protein degradation effects. In conclusion, this large-scale proteogenomic integration allowed us to determine the degree to which mutations are translated and identify gaps in sequence coverage, thereby benchmarking current technology and progress toward whole cancer proteome and transcriptome analysis.

Quality Assessments of Long-Term Quantitative Proteomic Analysis of Breast Cancer Xenograft Tissues.

Clinical proteomics requires large-scale analysis of human specimens to achieve statistical significance. We evaluated the long-term reproducibility of an iTRAQ (isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification)-based quantitative proteomics strategy using one channel for reference across all samples in different iTRAQ sets. A total of 148 liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) analyses were completed, generating six 2D LC-MS/MS data sets for human-in-mouse breast cancer xenograft tissues representative of basal and luminal subtypes. Such large-scale studies require the implementation of robust metrics to assess the contributions of technical and biological variability in the qualitative and quantitative data. Accordingly, we derived a quantification confidence score based on the quality of each peptide-spectrum match to remove quantification outliers from each analysis. After combining confidence score filtering and statistical analysis, reproducible protein identification and quantitative results were achieved from LC-MS/MS data sets collected over a 7-month period. This study provides the first quality assessment on long-term stability and technical considerations for study design of a large-scale clinical proteomics project.

An Integrated Multiomics Approach to Identify Candidate Antigens for Serodiagnosis of Human Onchocerciasis.

Improved diagnostic methods are needed to support ongoing efforts to eliminate onchocerciasis (river blindness). This study used an integrated approach to identify adult female Onchocerca volvulus antigens that can be explored for developing serodiagnostic tests. The first step was to develop a detailed multi-omics database of all O. volvulus proteins deduced from the genome, gene transcription data for different stages of the parasite including eight individual female worms (providing gene expression information for 94.8% of all protein coding genes), and the adult female worm proteome (detecting 2126 proteins). Next, female worm proteins were purified with IgG antibodies from onchocerciasis patients and identified using LC-MS with a high-resolution hybrid quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometer. A total of 241 immunoreactive proteins were identified among those bound by IgG from infected individuals but not IgG from uninfected controls. These included most of the major diagnostic antigens described over the past 25 years plus many new candidates. Proteins of interest were prioritized for further study based on a lack of conservation with orthologs in the human host and other helminthes, their expression pattern across the life cycle, and their consistent expression among individual female worms. Based on these criteria, we selected 33 proteins that should be carried forward for testing as serodiagnostic antigens to supplement existing diagnostic tools. These candidates, together with the extensive pan-omics dataset generated in this study are available to the community (http://nematode.net) to facilitate basic and translational research on onchocerciasis.

Ischemia in tumors induces early and sustained phosphorylation changes in stress kinase pathways but does not affect global protein levels.

Protein abundance and phosphorylation convey important information about pathway activity and molecular pathophysiology in diseases including cancer, providing biological insight, informing drug and diagnostic development, and guiding therapeutic intervention. Analyzed tissues are usually collected without tight regulation or documentation of ischemic time. To evaluate the impact of ischemia, we collected human ovarian tumor and breast cancer xenograft tissue without vascular interruption and performed quantitative proteomics and phosphoproteomics after defined ischemic intervals. Although the global expressed proteome and most of the >25,000 quantified phosphosites were unchanged after 60 min, rapid phosphorylation changes were observed in up to 24% of the phosphoproteome, representing activation of critical cancer pathways related to stress response, transcriptional regulation, and cell death. Both pan-tumor and tissue-specific changes were observed. The demonstrated impact of pre-analytical tissue ischemia on tumor biology mandates caution in interpreting stress-pathway activation in such samples and motivates reexamination of collection protocols for phosphoprotein analysis.

Genomic impact of transient low-dose decitabine treatment on primary AML cells.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is characterized by dysregulated gene expression and abnormal patterns of DNA methylation; the relationship between these events is unclear. Many AML patients are now being treated with hypomethylating agents, such as decitabine (DAC), although the mechanisms by which it induces remissions remain unknown. The goal of this study was to use a novel stromal coculture assay that can expand primary AML cells to identify the immediate changes induced by DAC with a dose (100nM) that decreases total 5-methylcytosine content and reactivates imprinted genes (without causing myeloid differentiation, which would confound downstream genomic analyses). Using array-based technologies, we found that DAC treatment caused global hypomethylation in all samples (with a preference for regions with higher levels of baseline methylation), yet there was limited correlation between changes in methylation and gene expression. Moreover, the patterns of methylation and gene expression across the samples were primarily determined by the intrinsic properties of the primary cells, rather than DAC treatment. Although DAC induces hypomethylation, we could not identify canonical target genes that are altered by DAC in primary AML cells, suggesting that the mechanism of action of DAC is more complex than previously recognized.

A proteomics approach to study mouse long bones: examining baseline differences and mechanical loading-induced bone formation in young-adult and old mice.

With aging, bone mass declines and the anabolic effects of skeletal loading diminish. While much research has focused on gene transcription, how bone ages and loses its mechanoresponsiveness at the protein level remains unclear. We developed a novel proteomics approach and performed a paired mass spectrometry and RNA-seq analysis on tibias from young-adult (5-month) and old (22-month) mice. We report the first correlation estimate between the bone proteome and transcriptome (Spearman ρ = 0.40), which is in line with other tissues but indicates that a relatively low amount of variation in protein levels is explained by the variation in transcript levels. Of 71 shared targets that differed with age, eight were associated with bone mineral density in previous GWAS, including understudied targets Asrgl1 and Timp2. We used complementary RNA in situ hybridization to confirm that Asrgl1 and Timp2 had reduced expression in osteoblasts/osteocytes in old bones. We also found evidence for reduced TGF-beta signaling with aging, in particular Tgfb2. Next, we defined proteomic changes following mechanical loading. At the protein level, bone differed more with age than with loading, and aged bone had fewer loading-induced changes. Overall, our findings underscore the need for complementary protein-level assays in skeletal biology research.

Missense Mutations in Myc Box I Influence Nucleocytoplasmic Transport to Promote Leukemogenesis.

PURPOSE: Somatic missense mutations in the phosphodegron domain of the MYC gene (MYC Box I or MBI) are detected in the dominant clones of a subset of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), but the mechanisms by which they contribute to AML are unknown. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: To investigate the effects of MBI MYC mutations on hematopoietic cells, we employed a multi-omic approach to systematically compare the cellular and molecular consequences of expressing oncogenic doses of wild type, threonine-58 and proline-59 mutant MYC proteins in hematopoietic cells, and we developed a knockin mouse harboring the germline MBI mutation p.T58N in the Myc gene. RESULTS: Both wild-type and MBI mutant MYC proteins promote self-renewal programs and expand highly selected subpopulations of progenitor cells in the bone marrow. Compared with their wild-type counterparts, mutant cells display decreased cell death and accelerated leukemogenesis in vivo, changes that are recapitulated in the transcriptomes of human AML-bearing MYC mutations. The mutant phenotypes feature decreased stability and translation of mRNAs encoding proapoptotic and immune-regulatory genes, increased translation of RNA binding proteins and nuclear export machinery, and distinct nucleocytoplasmic RNA profiles. MBI MYC mutant proteins also show a higher propensity to aggregate in perinuclear regions and cytoplasm. Like the overexpression model, heterozygous p.T58N knockin mice displayed similar changes in subcellular MYC localization, progenitor expansion, transcriptional signatures, and develop hematopoietic tumors. CONCLUSIONS: This study uncovers that MBI MYC mutations alter RNA nucleocytoplasmic transport mechanisms to contribute to the development of hematopoietic malignancies.

Quantitative proteomic mass spectrometry of protein kinases to determine dynamic heterogeneity of the human kinome.

The kinome is a dynamic system of kinases regulating signaling networks in cells and dysfunction of protein kinases contributes to many diseases. Regulation of the protein expression of kinases alters cellular responses to environmental changes and perturbations. We configured a library of 672 proteotypic peptides to quantify >300 kinases in a single LC-MS experiment using ten micrograms protein from human tissues including biopsies. This enables absolute quantitation of kinase protein abundance at attomole-femtomole expression levels, requiring no kinase enrichment and less than ten micrograms of starting protein from flash-frozen and formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissues. Breast cancer biopsies, organoids, and cell lines were analyzed using the SureQuant method, demonstrating the heterogeneity of kinase protein expression across and within breast cancer clinical subtypes. Kinome quantitation was coupled with nanoscale phosphoproteomics, providing a feasible method for novel clinical diagnosis and understanding of patient kinome responses to treatment.

Hsp 70/Hsp 90 organizing protein as a nitrosylation target in cystic fibrosis therapy.

The endogenous signaling molecule S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) and other S-nitrosylating agents can cause full maturation of the abnormal gene product DeltaF508 cystic fibrosis (CF) transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). However, the molecular mechanism of action is not known. Here we show that Hsp70/Hsp90 organizing protein (Hop) is a critical target of GSNO, and its S-nitrosylation results in DeltaF508 CFTR maturation and cell surface expression. S-nitrosylation by GSNO inhibited the association of Hop with CFTR in the endoplasmic reticulum. This effect was necessary and sufficient to mediate GSNO-induced cell-surface expression of DeltaF508 CFTR. Hop knockdown using siRNA recapitulated the effect of GSNO on DeltaF508 CFTR maturation and expression. Moreover, GSNO acted additively with decreased temperature, which promoted mutant CFTR maturation through a Hop-independent mechanism. We conclude that GSNO corrects DeltaF508 CFTR trafficking by inhibiting Hop expression, and that combination therapies--using differing mechanisms of action--may have additive benefits in treating CF.

Highly sensitive in vivo detection of dynamic changes in enkephalins following acute stress.

Enkephalins are opioid peptides that modulate analgesia, reward, and stress. In vivo detection of enkephalins remains difficult due to transient and low endogenous concentrations and inherent sequence similarity. To begin to address this we previously developed a system combining in vivo optogenetics with microdialysis and a highly sensitive mass spectrometry-based assay to measure opioid peptide release in freely moving rodents (Al-Hasani, 2018, eLife). Here not only do we show improved detection resolution but also a critical discovery in the stabilization of enkephalin detection, which together allowed us to investigate enkephalin release during acute stress. We present an analytical method for Met- and Leu-Enkephalin (Met-Enk & Leu-Enk) detection in the mouse Nucleus Accumbens shell (NAcSh) after acute stress. We confirm that acute stress activates enkephalinergic neurons in the NAcSh using fiber photometry and that this leads to the release of Met- and Leu-Enk. We also demonstrate the dynamics of Met- and Leu-Enk release as well as how they correlate to one another in the ventral NAc shell, which was previously difficult due to the use of approaches that relied on mRNA transcript levels rather than post-translational products. This approach increases spatiotemporal resolution, optimizes the detection of Met-Enkephalin through methionine oxidation, and provides novel insight into the relationship between Met- and Leu-Enkephalin following stress.

Proteogenomic analysis reveals cytoplasmic sequestration of RUNX1 by the acute myeloid leukemia-initiating CBFB::MYH11 oncofusion protein.

Several canonical translocations produce oncofusion genes that can initiate acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Although each translocation is associated with unique features, the mechanisms responsible remain unclear. While proteins interacting with each oncofusion are known to be relevant for how they act, these interactions have not yet been systematically defined. To address this issue in an unbiased fashion, we fused a promiscuous biotin ligase (TurboID) in-frame with 3 favorable-risk AML oncofusion cDNAs (PML::RARA, RUNX1::RUNX1T1, and CBFB::MYH11) and identified their interacting proteins in primary murine hematopoietic cells. The PML::RARA- and RUNX1::RUNX1T1-TurboID fusion proteins labeled common and unique nuclear repressor complexes, implying their nuclear localization. However, CBFB::MYH11-TurboID-interacting proteins were largely cytoplasmic, probably because of an interaction of the MYH11 domain with several cytoplasmic myosin-related proteins. Using a variety of methods, we showed that the CBFB domain of CBFB::MYH11 sequesters RUNX1 in cytoplasmic aggregates; these findings were confirmed in primary human AML cells. Paradoxically, CBFB::MYH11 expression was associated with increased RUNX1/2 expression, suggesting the presence of a sensor for reduced functional RUNX1 protein, and a feedback loop that may attempt to compensate by increasing RUNX1/2 transcription. These findings may have broad implications for AML pathogenesis.

The proteome of extracellular vesicles of the lung fluke Paragonimus kellicotti produced in vitro and in the lung cyst.

Paragonimiasis is a zoonotic, food-borne trematode infection that affects 21 million people globally. Trematodes interact with their hosts via extracellular vesicles (EV) that carry protein and RNA cargo. We analyzed EV in excretory-secretory products (ESP) released by Paragonimus kellicotti adult worms cultured in vitro (EV ESP) and EV isolated from lung cyst fluid (EV CFP) recovered from infected gerbils. The majority of EV were approximately 30-50 nm in diameter. We identified 548 P. kellicotti-derived proteins in EV ESP by mass spectrometry and 8 proteins in EV CFP of which 7 were also present in EV ESP. No parasite-derived proteins were reliably detected in EV isolated from plasma samples. A cysteine protease (MK050848, CP-6) was the most abundant protein found in EV CFP in all technical and biological replicates. Immunolocalization of CP-6 showed strong labeling in the tegument of P. kellicotti and in the adjacent cyst and lung tissue that contained worm eggs. It is likely that CP-6 present in EV is involved in parasite-host interactions. These results provide new insights into interactions between Paragonimus and their mammalian hosts, and they provide potential clues for development of novel diagnostic tools and treatments.

Longitudinal study of cross-reactive antigenemia in individuals with high Loa loa microfilarial density reveals promising biomarkers for distinguishing lymphatic filariasis from loiasis.

Background and methods: Circulating Loa loa antigens are often detected in individuals with heavy L. loa infections by diagnostic tests for lymphatic filariasis (LF) caused by Wuchereria bancrofti. This is a major challenge to LF mapping and elimination efforts in loiasis co-endemic areas. However, it also provides an opportunity to identify antigen biomarkers for loiasis. To determine which L. loa antigens might be promising biomarkers for distinguishing true LF from loiasis, we screened for L. loa antigens in a group of individuals with heavy L. loa infections living in the Okola Health District of Cameroon. In this longitudinal study, participants were tested for cross-reactive antigenemia by filariasis test strip (FTS), ELISA, and western blot, and were monitored for FTS status at 6, 9, 12, and 15 months post-enrollment. We then identified specific circulating L. loa antigens by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) from baseline and 15-month plasma samples. Principal findings and conclusions: Among 73 FTS-positive (FTS+) and 13 FTS-negative (FTS-) participants with high L. loa microfilarial loads, 83% maintained their FTS status over the course of the study, while 17% experienced at least one FTS conversion event (from FTS+ to FTS- or vice versa). Cross-reactive antigens were detected in both FTS+ and FTS- sera by western blot, and there was poor agreement in antigen detection by FTS, western blot, and ELISA methods. One protein family, a group of Nas-14 metalloproteases, was detected by LC MS/MS in >80% of tested samples, including FTS- samples. These data identify Nas-14 as a promising loiasis biomarker potentially capable of distinguishing loiasis from lymphatic filariasis.