Molecular signatures of atherosclerotic plaques: An up-dated panel of protein related markers.

Atherosclerosis remains the leading cause of ischemic syndromes such as myocardial infarction or brain stroke, mainly promoted by plaque rupture and subsequent arterial blockade. Identification of vulnerable or high-risk plaques constitutes a major challenge, being necessary to identify patients at risk of occlusive events in order to provide them with appropriate therapies. Clinical imaging tools have allowed the identification of certain structural indicators of prone-rupture plaques, including a necrotic lipidic core, intimal and adventitial inflammation, extracellular matrix dysregulation, and smooth muscle cell depletion and micro-calcification. Additionally, alternative approaches focused on identifying molecular biomarkers of atherosclerosis have also been applied. Among them, proteomics has provided numerous protein markers currently investigated in clinical practice. In this regard, it is quite uncertain that a single molecule can describe plaque rupture, due to the complexity of the process itself. Therefore, it should be more accurate to consider a set of markers to define plaques at risk. Herein, we propose a selection of 76 proteins, from classical inflammatory to recently related markers, all of them identified in at least two proteomic studies analyzing unstable atherosclerotic plaques. Such panel could be used as a prognostic signature of plaque instability.

Increased expression of microRNA-155 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from psoriasis patients is related to disease activity.

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) gene expression regulators are altered in psoriasis suggesting their role in the pathogenesis. OBJECTIVE: To study expression changes of inflammation and toll-like receptor (TLR)-related miRNAs, miRNA-155, let-7i, miRNA-21, miRNA-146a and miRNA-223 in peripheral mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and miRNA-21, miRNA-146a and miRNA-223 in plasma, from chronic plaque-type psoriasis patients who were treatment-naive or had undergone a washout period (n = 11). MiRNAs were evaluated at baseline and after 11 (9-12) months [median (25th-75th percentile range)] of methotrexate (MTX) or topical (betamethasone plus calcipotriene) treatment. METHODS: MiRNA expression was analysed with quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Matched controls were studied. RESULTS: Psoriasis patients presented, at baseline, increased expression of miRNA-155, let-7i, miRNA-146a, miRNA-21 and miRNA-223 in PBMCs, plus miRNA-21, miRNA-146a and miRNA-223 in plasma. Receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and area under the curve (AUC) showed that expression of these miRNAs have the potential to distinguish between psoriasis and controls. At baseline, miRNA-155 expression in PBMCs correlated with Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) [12 (8-14)] (Spearman r: 0.7140, P < 0.05) suggesting a role in psoriasis. After MTX or topical treatment, reduction in PASI was observed [87.5% (75-100)]; miRNA-155 expression in PBMCs decreased; plasma miRNA-21, miRNA-146a and miRNA-223 were down-regulated. ROC analysis showed that miRNA-155 expression in PBMCs from psoriasis patients have the potential to distinguish between patients' samples at baseline and after treatment (AUC: 0.942, sensitivity: 0.91; specificity: 0.91 values; maximum likelihood ratio =10). After treatment, miRNA-146a expression in PBMCs increased; miRNA-155/miRNA-146a ratio decreased, suggestive of a regulatory feedback; let-7i expression decreased; miRNA-21 and miRNA-223 remained elevated. CONCLUSION: In this exploratory study, psoriasis patients presented increased expression of miRNA-155 in PBMCs that correlated with PASI and decreased with disease remission. MiRNA-21, miRNA-146a and miRNA-223 in PBMCs and plasma were increased at baseline and differentially modulated, underscoring different roles of TLR-related miRNAs in psoriasis.

Supporting data for the MS identification of distinct transferrin glycopeptide glycoforms and citrullinated peptides associated with inflammation or autoimmunity.

This data article presents the results of all the statistical analyses applied to the relative intensities of the detected 2D-DiGE protein spots for each of the 3 performed DiGE experiments. The data reveals specific subsets of protein spots with significant differences between WT and CD38-deficient mice with either Collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), or with chronic inflammation induced by CFA, or under steady-state conditions. This article also shows the MS data analyses that allowed the identification of the protein species which serve to discriminate the different experimental groups used in this study. Moreover, the article presents MS data on the citrullinated peptides linked to specific protein species that were generated in CIA(+) or CFA-treated mice. Lastly, this data article provides MS data on the efficiency of the analyses of the transferrin (Tf) glycopeptide glycosylation pattern in spleen and serum from CIA(+) mice and normal controls. The data supplied in this work is related to the research article entitled "identification of multiple transferrin species in spleen and serum from mice with collagen-induced arthritis which may reflect changes in transferrin glycosylation associated with disease activity: the role of CD38" [1]. All mass spectrometry data have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange Consortium via the PRIDE partner repository with identifiers PRIDE: PXD002644, PRIDE: PXD002643, PRIDE: PXD003183 and PRIDE: PXD003163.

Identification of multiple transferrin species in the spleen and serum from mice with collagen-induced arthritis which may reflect changes in transferrin glycosylation associated with disease activity: The role of CD38.

UNLABELLED: Collagen type II-induced arthritis (CIA) is an inflammatory and autoimmune disease. Spleen protein extracts were subjected to 2D-DiGE and MS-MALDI-TOF/TOF analysis to identify protein species that differ in abundance in CD38-KO versus B6 WT mice either with arthritis or with inflammation. Using multivariate analyses, in Col-II-immunized mice, 23 distinct spleen protein species were able to discriminate between WT and CD38-KO mice. Among them, several citrullinated proteins and multiple serotransferrin (Tf) species were identified. In contrast, in CFA/IFA-treated mice, the distinct protein profile, which discriminates between CD38-KO and WT mice, was unrelated with Tf, but not with citrullination. Unexpectedly, non-immunized CD38-KO mice showed a distinct proteome profile as compared with that in non-immunized WT mice, and again multiple protein species were identified as Tf. By using a µLC-TOF-MS method to separate and detect Tf glycopeptide glycoforms, increases in fucosylation and glycan branching was observed in sera from mice CIA(+) versus non-immunized, and between WT and CD38-KO with arthritis. Data on 2-DE Tf spots indicated differences in glycosylation related with NeuGc content. Thus, Tf changed significantly in its glycosylation pattern in arthritic mice. The MS data have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange Consortium with the dataset identifiers: PXD002644, PXD002643, PXD003183, and PXD003163. SIGNIFICANCE: 2-DE followed by µLC-TOF-MS could be implemented to identify Tf glycoforms linked to specific protein species, and correlate a particular Tf species to a function. To gain insight into the relationship between transferrin glycoforms and its biological function it is particularly interesting to study putative differences in the glycosylation pattern of Tf in specific tissues associated with the disease (i.e.: joints), or in specific compartments such as exosomes/microvesicles, which are highly enriched in Tf receptors.