Mutation screening of 10 cancer susceptibility genes in unselected breast cancer patients

Variants of cancer susceptibility genes other than BRCA1/2 have been proved to be associated with increased risks of breast cancer. This study was performed to investigate the spectrum and prevalence of mutations in 10 cancer susceptibility genes in paired tumor/normal tissues of 292 unselected Chinese breast cancer patients. We performed an analysis of germline and somatic variants in ATM, CDH1, CHEK2, ESR1, GATA3, MAP3K1, MSH2, PALB2, RB1 and STK11 genes by integrating microfluidic PCR-based target enrichment and next-generation sequencing technologies. In total, 3 germline and 25 somatic deleterious mutations were found among 27 patients (9.25%), and 17 of them were novel mutations. Most deleterious mutations were prevalent in luminal A invasive breast cancer (P = .014). We also observed 83 variants of uncertain significance (VUS) in 100 patients (34.25%), 23 of which were predicted to be deleterious by in silico prediction programs (MetaSVM and MetaLR). VUS carriers had higher positive rate of lymph node metastasis than non-carriers (P = .008) and were predominantly present in ER+ tumors (P = .018). Our findings would enhance the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of breast cancer in Chinese population.

Evaluating the prognostic value of miR-148/152 family in cancers: based on a systemic review of observational studies

Background

The prognostic significance of MicroRNA-148/152 (miR-148/152) family expression in various cancers has been investigated by many studies with inconsistent results. To address this issue, we performed a meta-analysis to clarify this relationship.

Materials and Methods

Eligible studies were recruited by a systematic literature search and assessed the quality of included studies based on Quality In Prognosis Studies (QUIPS) and Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for overall survival (OS) and disease free survival/progressive free survival/recurrence free survival (DFS/PFS/RFS) were calculated to estimate the effects of miR-148/152 family expression on prognosis.

Results

A final total of 23 articles (26 studies) were considered in evidence synthesis. A significant association was observed between low miR-148a level and poor OS in patients (HR = 1.59, 95% CI: 1.14 – 2.20, P = 0.00), especially with digestive tract cancer (DTC) (HR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.03–1.63, P = 0.03), and another significant association was observed between low miR-148b level and poor OS in patients (HR=2.09, 95% CI: 1.70–2.56, P = 0.00), especially with (hepatocellular carcinoma) HCC (HR = 1.97, 95% Cl: 1.52–2.56, P = 0.00) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (HR = 2.29, 95% Cl: 1.64–3.18, P = 0.00). The significant correlation between miR-152 and DFS/RFS was found in our research (HR = 3.49, 95% Cl: 1.13–10.08, P = 0.03).

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that low miR-148/152 family expression is significantly associated with poor prognosis and may be a feasible prognostic biomarker in some cancers, especially in HCC and NSCLC.

[Extensive burns complicated with infective endocarditis and septic pulmonary embolism: case report and literature review]

Objective: To improve the clinical recognition of infective endocarditis (IE) and septic pulmonary embolism (SPE) in patients with extensive burns. Methods: A case of large area burn complicated with IE and SPE confirmed by blood cultures and echocardiography was described. A literature review was performed with "burn" and "infective endocarditis" as the Chinese key words in Wanfang database; with "burn" and "infective endocarditis" as Mesh terms in PubMed. Results: The patient was a 37-year-old male with large area burn, who presented with fever and hemoptysis. Blood cultures were positive for methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Echocardiography disclosed vegetations located in the tricuspid valve. Multiple wedge-shaped lesions were found on chest CT. From January 1978 to December 2015, 26 related articles were retrieved and 134 burned patients complicated with endocarditis were reported, of which, 97 cases were IE and 1 case with SPE. Of the 134 cases, 120 cases were dead, 12 cases cured and 2 cases unknown. The mortality was 89.6%. Conclusions: There was a high mortality of burned patients complicated with IE. SPE should be considered for patients with multiple peripheral nodules in both lungs and a positive blood culture. Combination and prolonged anti-infective therapy may increase the treatment success and reduce the risk of recurrence.

Drug resistance reversal in ovarian cancer cells of paclitaxel and borneol combination therapy mediated by PEG-PAMAM nanoparticles

Paclitaxel (PTX) is frequently suffered from multidrug resistance (MDR), resulting in lower chemotherapeutic efficacy and even chemotherapy failure. To combine the P-glycolprotein (P-gp) inhibitor would be a useful strategy to overcome MDR. However, what is needed now is an efficient vehicle to deliver multiple drugs into tumor simultaneously. In this study, PTX and Borneol (BNL), a natural compound with P-gp inhibition effect confirmed in intestinal absorption, were co-loaded in the fabricated PEG-PAMAM nanoparticle (NPs) by a one-step nano-precipitation method with high drug loading efficiency, narrow size distribution and low hemolysis rate. Based on P-gp inhibition activity of BNL, confirmed by drug efflux test and molecular docking model, the combination of PTX and BNL could improve intracellular concentration of PTX in A2780/PTX cells. Furthermore, compared to both free PTX and PTX+BNL, PB/NPs and P/NPs plus BNL exhibited higher cellular uptake and cytotoxicity in A2780/PTX cells, as well as the decreased MMP and enhanced apoptosis rate. More importantly, although PB/NPs and P/NPs+B showed similar tumor accumulation in tumor-bearing mice, PB/NPs could significantly decrease tumor growth of A2780/PTX tumor-bearing mice, in comparison to P/NPs+B. These results indicated the advantage of PTX and BNL co-delivery NPs for MDR reversal. These findings demonstrate that the co-delivery nano-sized system comprised by PEG-PAMAM polymer with PTX and BNL co-loaded would be a promising candidate for MDR treatment.

Abstract 4850: Overexpression of P62/IMP2 promotes metastasis in hepatocellular carcinoma via inhibition of E-cadherin expression

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common type of cancer and the third leading cause of cancer related death in worldwide. Insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA binding protein 2 (p62/IMP2/IGF2BP2) was originally reported as an autoantigen in HCC which belongs to IMPs family. The IMPs family contains three members: IMP1, IMP2 and IMP3, which share similar protein structure. IMPs are oncofetal proteins, which are expressed during embryogenesis and lost in most tissues in adults. Therefore, p62/IMP2 can be used as a potential biomarker for early diagnosis of HCC. We have evaluated the expression of p62/IMP2 protein both in human tissues and HCC cell lines by immunohistochemistry and western blotting analysis, and found that p62/IMP2 protein is overexpressed in human HCC tissues compared with normal human liver tissues (score= 10.30, n=40 vs. score =5.23, n=30, p<0.05). The expression of p62/IMP2 was scored by immune-staining intensity and positively immune-staining cell numbers. At the same time, we found that p62/IMP2 was also overexpressed in several HCC cell lines. Stable p62/IMP2 overexpression and depletion SNU449 human HCC cell line was made by using p62/IMP2 cDNA transfection and lentivirus mediated knockdown approaches, and it was further confirmed by western blotting analysis. Wound healing assay has shown that overexpression of p62/IMP2 can significantly enhance the cell migration ability in SNU449 cells. On the contrary, the depletion of p62/IMP2 can reduce the migration ability in SNU449 cells (p<0.05). Moreover,MTT assay has also shown p62/IMP2 overexpressed cells may have a higher rate of proliferation at 72h(p<0.05). In addition, we have observed that overexpression of p62/IMP2 can significant inhibit the expression of E-cadherin in western blotting analysis. In summary, our data would suggest that overexpression p62/IMP2 may promote metastasis via inhibition of E-cadherin expression in HCC.

Citation Format: Mengtao Xing, Pei Li, Jitian Li, Jianxiang shi, Liping Dai, Giulio Francia, Jianying Zhang. Overexpression of P62/IMP2 promotes metastasis in hepatocellular carcinoma via inhibition of E-cadherin expression [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4850. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-4850

Abstract 710: Identification of autoantibody to ECH1 & HNRNPA2B1 as potential biomarkers in the early detection of lung cancer

Background: Identification of biomarkers for early detection of lung cancer (LC) may lead to more effective treatment and reduction of mortality.

Methods: Serological proteome analysis (SERPA) was used to identify proteins around 34 kDa, which had been previously recognized by autoantibody in sera from LC patients. We have validated autoantibody response in sera from 90 LC patients, 89 normal controls by using immunoassay. Another independent cohort of 25 LC patients with 219 serial serum samples and 56 matched normal controls were examined to evaluate whether the autoantibody can be detected in the preclinical stage.

Results: The proteins with molecular weight of 34 kDa were identified as ECH1, GAPDH and HNRNPA2B1. In the validation study, autoantibody to ECH1 achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.799 with sensitivity of 62.2% and specificity of 95.5% in discriminating LC from normal individuals, and showed negative correlation with tumor size (rs=0.-256, p=0.023). Autoantibody to HNRNPA2B1 performed an AUC of 0.874 with sensitivity of 72.2% and specificity of 95.5%, and showed negative correlation with lymph node metastasis (rs=0.-279, P=0.012). By using longitudinal preclinical samples, autoantibody to ECH1 showed an AUC of 0.763 with sensitivity of 60.0% and specificity of 89.3% in distinguishing LC with matched normal controls, and elevated autoantibody levels could be detected greater than two years prior to LC diagnosis.

Conclusions: ECH1 and HNRNPA2B1 are autoantigens that elicit autoimmune responses in LC and can be used as potential biomarkers for the early detection of LC.

Funding support: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81672917, 81372371) and the National Institutes of Health (SC1CA166016 and U01CA086137).

Citation Format: Liping Dai, Jitian Li, Jun-Chieh J. Tsay, Xiao Wang, John S. Munger, Harvey Pass, William N. Rom, Eng M. Tan, Jian-Ying Zhang. Identification of autoantibody to ECH1 & HNRNPA2B1 as potential biomarkers in the early detection of lung cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 710. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-710

Abstract 1130: Targeting the tumor-associated autoantigen alpha-enolase in prostate cancer

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in American men. African American (AA) men are more likely to be diagnosed with aggressive PCa at a younger age and twice as likely to die from the disease as European American (EA) men. In order to reduce PCa mortality and its associated racial disparities, there is a critical need to identify and target pathways responsible for PCa aggressiveness. An unexplored target is the plasminogen system, which is key to cancer cell migration and tissue invasion during metastasis. During inflammation, activation of the plasminogen pathway degrades extracellular fibrin networks; however, in the context of cancer, this activation promotes cancer tissue invasion and metastasis. Mounting evidence shows that the glycolytic enzyme alpha-enolase (ENO1) plays a vital role in both increased energy metabolism and plasminogen activation during cancer progression and metastasis. Using immunoseroproteomic profiling of anti-tumor autoantibody responses in AA and EA men with PCa, we identified several tumor-associated autoantigens with functions in glycolysis and plasminogen signaling, including ENO1, annexin A2, fructose bisphosphate aldolase, glucose-regulated protein 78, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and phosphoglycerate kinase. In a cohort of PCa (N=157) and non-PCa sera (N=183), we found a significantly higher frequency of autoantibodies to ENO1 in patients with PCa (p<0.05). Surprisingly, when we probed a panel of non-PCa and PCa cell lines with anti-ENO1 positive sera from AA and EA patients with PCa, we observed that AA patients showed increased immunoreactivity to this protein in metastatic PCa cells, with decreased reactivity in docetaxel-resistant cell lines. By contrast, the anti-ENO1 EA-PCa sera and a monoclonal mouse anti-ENO1 showed relatively uniform immunoreactivity across the same panel cell lines. This suggested that the AA-PCa patients are producing antibodies to a different ENO1 variant than EA-PCa patients. Proteomic analysis of post-translational modifications (PTM) in ENO1 showed differences in ENO1 PTM profiles between the parental PC3 bone metastatic cell line and the PC3 docetaxel-resistant cell line, which could explain the differential autoantibody reactivity observed in AA men. Given that ENO1 is up-regulated in PCa tissue, plays a role in glucose metabolism and plasminogen activation during cancer progression, and that the immune system of a cohort of AA-PCa patients recognizes an alternately modified variant of ENO1 that is upregulated in metastatic PCa, we elected to target this protein in metastatic PCa cell lines. ENO1 depletion via siRNA knockdown in PC3 cells led to increased cell death, with concomitant decrease in PCa proliferation. Taken together, these results highlighted the value of immunoproteomics as a tool to identify novel therapeutic targets, with ENO1 as a promising target in metastatic PCa.

Citation Format: Tino Wilson Sanchez, Guangyu Zhang, Jitian Li, Liping Dai, Saied Mirshahidi, Nathan R. Wall, Clayton Yates, Colwick Wilson, Susanne Montgomery, Jian-Ying Zhang, Carlos A. Casiano. Targeting the tumor-associated autoantigen alpha-enolase in prostate cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1130. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-1130

Abstract 720: Systematic discovery and evaluation of tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) as biomarkers in cancer immunodiagnosis

Proteins aberrantly over-expressed in tissues from nineteen types of cancers have been identified from the Human Protein Atlas (HPA) database. Among these proteins, some were overexpressed in several types of cancers while certain proteins were found only overexpressed in certain type of cancers. It is demonstrated that aberrantly overexpressed proteins might shed into the blood and trigger the immune system to produce autoantibodies during the process of oncogenesis. Autoantibodies are more stable and often have higher titer compared to autoantigens. Therefore, we hypothesize that autoantibodies against these aberrantly overexpressed proteins may have the potential to serve as diagnostic biomarkers in certain type of cancers. In current study, we have selected 11 proteins, including EDNRB, KRT4, PLAT, MSLN, WFDC2, F5, FOXA1, AURKC, STC1, CAB39L, and SFTPA1, to further evaluate the diagnostic values of their corresponding serum autoantibodies in five types of cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma, lung cancer, gastric cancer, breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Sera from 470 patients (94 per cancer type), 94 hepatitis patients and 192 age- and gender-matched normal controls were used in current study. Serum autoantibodies were detected by ELISA. Receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of serum autoantibodies against these potential TAAs. The data indicates that several anti-TAA autoantibodies can be found to have diagnostic value for certain types of cancers. Autoantibodies against PLAT can distinguish breast and ovarian cancer while autoantibodies against SFTPA1 and CAB39L can distinguish cancers both in male and female. However, none of these serum anti-TAAs was found to be specific to a single type of cancer. In summary, HPA database has made systematic discovery of cancer biomarkers possible. Whether these in silicon biomarkers can be used to distinguish normal and cancer still needs to be evaluated in more serum samples from normal controls and cancer patients.

Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting.

Citation Format: Jianxiang Shi, Lu Zhang, Peng Wang, Hua Ye, Liping Dai, Pei Li, Chenglin Luo, Chuhua Song, Kaijuan Wang, Xiao Wang, Jun Ouyang, Zhenyu Ji, Jianying Zhang. Systematic discovery and evaluation of tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) as biomarkers in cancer immunodiagnosis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 720. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-720

Abstract 4659: Detection of autoantibodies against tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) improving immunodiagnosis in human osteosarcoma by serological proteome analysis

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common malignant primary solid bone-tumor. Despite its relatively low incidence rate among overall cancers, it remains one of the most harmful primary malignant tumors in childhood and adolescence. Thus, a critical need in the diagnosis and management of OS is to determine an optimal combination of clinical biomarkers that could detect tumors early with high specificity/sensitivity and with limited invasiveness. The objective of this study is to identify and characterize the targeted tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) as biomarkers in OS by serological proteome analysis (SERPA) approach, and further to analyze the frequency and specificity of anti-TAA antibodies in OS patients. In this initial study, autoantibodies to 29 TAAs were detected by ELISA and Western blotting in 90 sera from patients with OS, Osteochondroma (OC), and age matched normal individuals. Only 8 protein antigens including DSF70, HMGB1, HCC1, RalA, c-myc, AnnexinA1, IMP1, PBP, can induce significantly higher antibody responses in OS patients compared to normal individuals, achieving the highest sensitivity and specificity, 66% and 95%, respectively. The cumulative positive rate of autoantibodies against these eight selected TAAs in OS reached 70.7% with an observed AUC of 0.972 (95% CI: 0.867-0.988), significantly higher than that in normal control sera. Positive results were also confirmed by Western blotting. These preliminary data extensively evidence that not all proteins identified in cancer can be used as TAA biomarkers in OS, and only some of these proteins can induce immune responses, which could be potential TAAs in OS immunodiagnosis or prognosis, and further studies of novel targeted proteins in OS are currently in progress by SERPA approach. In addition, it supports the hypothesis that a customized TAA array can be used for enhancing anti-TAA antibodies detection, and it may constitute a promising and powerful tool for immunodiagnosis of OS.

Citation Format: Jitian Li, Manyu Huang, Manli Luo, Liping Dai, Wen Xie, Xiaofei Qin, Zongchang Han, Wuyin Li, Jianying Zhang. Detection of autoantibodies against tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) improving immunodiagnosis in human osteosarcoma by serological proteome analysis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4659. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-4659

A Rice PECTATE LYASE-LIKE Gene Is Required for Plant Growth and Leaf Senescence

To better understand the molecular mechanisms behind plant growth and leaf senescence in monocot plants, we identified a mutant exhibiting dwarfism and an early-senescence leaf phenotype, termed dwarf and early-senescence leaf1 (del1). Histological analysis showed that the abnormal growth was caused by a reduction in cell number. Further investigation revealed that the decline in cell number in del1 was affected by the cell cycle. Physiological analysis, transmission electron microscopy, and TUNEL assays showed that leaf senescence was triggered by the accumulation of reactive oxygen species. The DEL1 gene was cloned using a map-based approach. It was shown to encode a pectate lyase (PEL) precursor that contains a PelC domain. DEL1 contains all the conserved residues of PEL and has strong similarity with plant PelC. DEL1 is expressed in all tissues but predominantly in elongating tissues. Functional analysis revealed that mutation of DEL1 decreased the total PEL enzymatic activity, increased the degree of methylesterified homogalacturonan, and altered the cell wall composition and structure. In addition, transcriptome assay revealed that a set of cell wall function- and senescence-related gene expression was altered in del1 plants. Our research indicates that DEL1 is involved in both the maintenance of normal cell division and the induction of leaf senescence. These findings reveal a new molecular mechanism for plant growth and leaf senescence mediated by PECTATE LYASE-LIKE genes.

Ribonucleotide reductase represents a novel therapeutic target in primary effusion lymphoma

Primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) is a highly aggressive B-cell malignancy that is closely associated with one of oncogenic viruses infection, Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). PEL prognosis is poor and patients barely survive more than 6 months even following active chemotherapy interventions. There is therefore an urgent need to discover more effective targets for PEL management. We recently found that the ribonucleotide reductase (RR) subunit M2 is potentially regulated by the key oncogenic HGF/c-MET pathway in PEL (Dai et al., Blood. 2015;126(26):2821-31). In the current study, we set to investigate the role of RR in PEL pathogenesis and to evaluate its potential as a therapeutic target. We report that the RR inhibitor 3-AP actively induces PEL cell cycle arrest through inhibiting the activity of the NF-κB pathway. Using a xenograft model, we found that 3-AP effectively suppresses PEL progression in immunodeficient mice. Transcriptome analysis of 3-AP treated PEL cell lines reveals altered cellular genes, most of whose roles in PEL have not yet been reported. Taken together, we propose that RR and its signaling pathway may serve as novel actionable targets for PEL management.

Identification of autoantibodies to ECH1 and HNRNPA2B1 as potential biomarkers in the early detection of lung cancer

Identification of biomarkers for early detection of lung cancer (LC) is important, in turn leading to more effective treatment and reduction of mortality. Serological proteome analysis (SERPA) was used to identify proteins around 34 kD as ECH1 and HNRNPA2B1, which had been recognized by serum autoantibody from 25 LC patients. In the validation study, including 90 sera from LC patients and 89 sera from normal individuals, autoantibody to ECH1 achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.799 with sensitivity of 62.2% and specificity of 95.5% in discriminating LC from normal individuals, and showed negative correlation with tumor size (r_s = -0.256, p = 0.023). Autoantibody to HNRNPA2B1 performed an AUC of 0.874 with sensitivity of 72.2% and specificity of 95.5%, and showed negative correlation with lymph node metastasis (r_s = -0.279, p = 0.012). By using longitudinal preclinical samples, autoantibody to ECH1 showed an AUC of 0.763 with sensitivity of 60.0% and specificity of 89.3% in distinguishing early stage LC from matched normal controls, and elevated autoantibody levels could be detected greater than 2 y before LC diagnosis. ECH1 and HNRNPA2B1 are autoantigens that elicit autoimmune responses in LC and their autoantibody can be the potential biomarkers for the early detection of LC.

Recent progress in van der Waals heterojunctions

Following the development of many novel two-dimensional (2D) materials, investigations of van der Waals heterojunctions (vdWHs) have attracted significant attention due to their excellent properties such as smooth heterointerface, highly gate-tunable bandgap, and ultrafast carrier transport. Benefits from the atom-scale thickness, physical and chemical properties and ease of manipulation of the heterojunctions formulated by weak vdW forces were demonstrated to indicate their outstanding potential in electronic and optoelectronic applications, including photodetection and energy harvesting, and the possibility of integrating them with the existing semiconductor technology for the next-generation electronic and sensing devices. In this review, we summarized the recent developments of vdWHs and emphasized their applications. Basically, we introduced the physical properties and some newly discovered phenomena in vdWHs. Then, we emphatically presented four classical vdWHs and some novel heterostructures formed by vdW forces. Based on their unique physical properties and structures, we highlighted the applications of vdWHs including in photodiodes, phototransistors, tunneling devices, and memory devices. Finally, we provided a conclusion on the recent advances in vdWHs and outlined our perspectives. We aim for this review to serve as a solid foundation in this field and to pave the way for future research on vdW-based materials and their heterostructures.

[Andersson lesion in ankylosing spondylitis: a clinical study of 14 cases]

Objective: To investigate the clinical characteristics of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) combined Andersson lesion (AL). Methods: The clinical data of patients who were diagnosed as AS combined AL at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital between January 2012 and December 2015 were reviewed retrospectively.SPSS 20.0 software was used for statistical analysis.Data of normal distribution was expressed by x±s (standard deviation) and that of abnormal distribution by median and range. Results: Fourteen patients were enrolled. Ten were male, median age (IQR, similarly hereinafter) was 46 (29-53) years, disease duration was 120 (54-150) months, 7 has symptom increased in the beginning, 6 has nerve compression symptom, 7 has kyphosis, and 4 has spinous tenderness or percussion pain in physical examination.Eleven of AL occurred in the thoracolumbar junction.Erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 24 (15-44) mm/1 h, C-reactive protein was 10 (5-18) mg/L, and Serum amyloid A was 19 (5-31) mg/L.All the 14 patients were divided into 2 groups, aggravated group (n=7) and none aggravated group (n=7) according to the symptom.It was no statistic difference between them about all the above indicators. Conclusion: Imageological diagnosis should be performed to identify Andersson lesion, while ankylosing spondylitis patients combined mechanical pain based on inflammatory back pain, or mainly with nerve compression symptom, tenderness or percussion pain, or spinous, even when inflammatory markers were normal.

Abstract B05: Differential autoimmune response to glycolysis and plasminogen antigens from aggressive prostate cancer cells in African American and European American men with prostate cancer

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related male deaths in the U.S. This cancer is more aggressive in African American (AA) men, who are twice as likely to die from the disease compared to other racial groups. Despite racial disparities in PCa mortality, immunoproteomic studies profiling sera from thousands of men for the presence of autoantibodies to tumor-associated antigens (TAA) have mostly used sera from European or Asian ancestry. These autoantibodies can serve as both cancer biomarkers and potential tools in anti-tumor immunotherapy. In this study we profiled sera of AA and European American (EA) men with (N=157) and without (N=183) PCa against protein lysates from aggressive PCa cell lines using one and two-dimensional Western blotting. Sera from AA-PCa patients showed stronger immunoreactivity to proteins in PC3 cell lysates compared to EA-PCa sera. Common bands of immunoreactivity were observed around 37, 40, 50, 55, 60, and 70 kD from the sera of multiple patients. Several AA-PCa sera showed common immunoreactivity against a 50 kD protein band (16 out of 24, 67%) which was identified by serological proteomic analysis (SERPA) as alpha-enolase (ENO1), an enzyme that participates in both the glycolysis and plasminogen pathways. ELISA using purified ENO1 was conducted on 360 sera and showed significantly elevated frequency in men with PCa compared to non-PCa controls. Interestingly, SERPA analysis of other strongly immunoreactive spots outside the 50 kD region recognized of the other highly reactive PCa sera revealed additional candidate TAAs involved in the glycolysis and plasminogen pathways. These included key glycolytic enzymes GAPDH, fructose bisphosphate aldolase, phosphoglycerate kinase and lactate dehydrogenase, and other members of the plasminogen system such as GRP78 and annexin A2. Autoantibodies to stress survival proteins HSP60 and STIP1 were also identified in multiple PCa sera. We then probed by immunoblotting representative sera recognizing some of these candidate TAAs against a panel of 12 PCa and non-PCa cell lines. Anti-STIP1 sera showed elevated immunoreactivity predominantly in docetaxel-resistant cell lines. In the anti-ENO1 positive sera, we observed a race-related differential immune response, with anti-ENO1 sera from AA-PCa men showing elevated immunoreactivity mostly in metastatic cell lines, and anti-ENO1 sera from EA-PCa men showing uniform immunoreactivity across the entire panel of prostate cell lines. Interestingly, while several anti-ENO1 positive sera from AA-PCa men had increased immunoreactivity to this protein in the metastatic PCa cell lines LNCaP, MDA-PC2b, PC3 and DU145, they lacked reactivity against ENO1 in the docetaxel-resistant PC3-DR and DU145-DR cells, or purified ENO1 used in the ELISA. Anti-ENO1 EA-PCa sera did not display this differential pattern of immunoreactivity. To better understand these differences in anti-ENO1 reactivity, we interrogated the pattern of ENO1 post-translational modifications (PTMs) from PC3, PC3-DR and purified ENO1. Several different acetylated, methylated, phosphorylated, citrullinated, and glycosylated ENO1 PTMs were identified in the PC3 cells that were not present in the PC3-DR cells nor purified ENO1 which might explain the differential reactivity of AA-PCa sera against these three sources of ENO1. Taken together, these data suggest the anti-ENO1 autoantibodies from AA-PCa men may target a modified form of ENO1 that is different from that recognized by EA-PCa men. These discrepancies point to racial differences in immune response to TAAs in prostate tumors, and may have implications for identifying immunobiological factors contributing to PCa health disparities.

Citation Format: Tino W. Sanchez, Guangyu Zhang, Jitian Li, Liping Dai, Rowaid Kellow, Saied Mirshahidi, Nathan R. Wall, Clayton Yates, Colwick Wilson, Susanne Montgomery, Jian-Ying Zhang, Carlos Casiano. Differential autoimmune response to glycolysis and plasminogen antigens from aggressive prostate cancer cells in African American and European American men with prostate cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Ninth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2016 Sep 25-28; Fort Lauderdale, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2017;26(2 Suppl):Abstract nr B05.

Two novel polymorphisms in PLCE1 are associated with the susceptibility to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in Chinese population

Esophageal cancer is the sixth leading cause of cancer-associated death worldwide. Phospholipase C epsilon 1 (PLCE1) gene was found to be associated with the risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) by three large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in Chinese populations. To evaluate the association between the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in PLCE1 gene and ESCC risk, a case-control study including 550 patients with ESCC and 550 age, gender-matched controls was carried out to investigate the genetic susceptibility of three SNPs (rs3765524 C/T and two unreported potentially functional SNPs rs10882379 G/A and rs829232 G/A) as well as the interactions of gene-gene and gene-environment in the development of ESCC. And the results showed that GA genotype of rs10882379 was significantly associated with reduced ESCC risk compared with GG genotype (adjusted OR [95% CI]: 0.66 [0.51, 0.86]), while AA genotype of rs829232 was significantly associated with increased ESCC risk compared with GG genotype (adjusted OR [95% CI]: 1.37 [1.12, 1.67]). The haplotype analysis showed increased ESCC risk in Grs10882379Crs3765524Ars829232 and Grs10882379Trs3765524Ars829232 haplotypes with OR (95% CI) of 1.40 (1.13, 1.73) and 1.66 (1.18, 2.34), respectively and inversely reduced ESCC risk in Ars10882379Crs3765524Grs829232 haplotype with OR (95% CI) of 0.74 (0.61, 0.91). The gene-environment interaction analysis emerged a best model consisted of four factors (rs10882379, rs3765524, rs829232 and family history of ESCC) that could increase the ESCC risk in the 'high risk group' with 4.45-fold (OR [95% CI]: 5.45 [4.13, 7.19]), compared to the 'low risk group.' Our results further validate that the SNPs in PLCE1 gene may contribute to the ESCC susceptibility in Chinese Han population. Also the gene-gene and gene-environment interactions play a certain crucial role in the ESCC progression.

[The alterations and clinical significance of serum thyroid hormone levels in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease]

Objective: To observe the alterations of serum thyroid hormone levels in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) patients without thyroid disease and therefore to investigate the association between serum thyroid hormone levels and the severity and prognosis of AECOPD. Methods: Serum thyroid hormone levels including TT4, TT3, TSH, FT4 and FT3 were measured by chemiluminescence immunoassay in 84 hospitalized patients with AECOPD [male 52, female 32, aged 50-93 years, average (78±10) years] and in 35 healthy subjects [male 20, female 15, aged 51-87 years, average (73±11) years] from 2013 to 2014. Results: The serum TT4, TT3 and FT3 levels in AECOPD patients before therapy were significantly lower than those after therapy(P<0.05). The serum TT4, TT3 and FT3 levels in AECOPD post-therapy were significantly lower than those in the healthy control group(TT4: 80±18, 89±18, 113±21; TT3: 0.84±0.25, 1.37±0.31, 1.60±0.35; FT3: 2.57±0.73, 3.49±0.64, 4.21±0.75, P<0.05). The serum FT4 level in AECOPD pre-therapy was significantly lower than that in AECOPD post-therapy and the control group(15.0±2.8, 16.3±2.5, 16.7±2.4, P<0.05). The difference of serum FT4 level between AECOPD post-therapy group and the control group was not statistically significant(P>0.05). The Serum TT4, TT3, FT4 and FT3 levels in type Ⅰ respiratory failure subgroup and type Ⅱ respiratory failure subgroup were both significantly lower than those in the non-respiratory failure subgroup(TT4: 78±14, 70±16, 92±17; TT3: 0.73±0.16, 0.73±0.23, 1.04±0.21; FT4: 14.4±2.4, 14.1±2.4, 16.3±2.9; FT3: 2.27±0.65, 2.32±0.66, 3.05±0.62, P<0.05). The differences of serum TT4, TT3, FT4 and FT3 levels between type Ⅰ respiratory failure subgroup and type Ⅱ respiratory failure subgroup were not statistically significant(P>0.05). The serum TT3 and FT3 levels in the survival subgroup were significantly higher than those in the fatal subgroup(TT3: 0.90±0.25, 0.68±0.18; FT3: 2.76±0.67, 2.07±0.68, P<0.05). The differences of serum TT4(82±18, 75±17), FT4(15.2±2.8, 14.2±2.7) and TSH(1.1±1.1, 1.5±1.5) levels between the 2 subgroups were not statistically significant(P>0.05). Conclusion: Serum thyroid hormone levels are related to the condition of AECOPD. They are reduced in patients with AECOPD and can recover to different degrees as the primary disease improves. Hypoxia and carbon dioxide retention can result in decreased levels of serum thyroid hormones. Serum thyroid hormone levels are significantly associated with the severity and prognosis of patients with AECOPD.

Using Serological Proteome Analysis to Identify Serum Anti-Nucleophosmin 1 Autoantibody as a Potential Biomarker in European-American and African-American Patients With Prostate Cancer

BACKGROUND

The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing has been widely implemented for the early detection and management of prostate cancer (PCa). However, the lack of specificity has led to overdiagnosis, resulting in many possibly unnecessary biopsies and overtreatment. Therefore, novel serological biomarkers with high sensitivity and specificity are of vital importance needed to complement PSA testing in the early diagnosis and effective management of PCa. This is particularly critical in the context of PCa health disparities, where early detection and management could help reduce the disproportionately high PCa mortality observed in African-American men. Previous studies have demonstrated that sera from patients with PCa contain autoantibodies that react with tumor-associated antigens (TAAs).

METHODS

The serological proteome analysis (SERPA) approach was used to identify tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) of PCa. In evaluation study, the level of anti-NPM1 antibody was examined in sera from test cohort, validation cohort, as well as European-American (EA) and African-American (AA) men with PCa by using immunoassay.

RESULTS

Nucleophosmin 1 (NPM1) as a 33 kDa TAA in PCa was identified and characterized by SERPA approach. Anti-NPM1 antibody level in PCa was higher than in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients and healthy individuals. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed similar high diagnostic value for PCa in the test cohort (area under the curve (AUC):0.860) and validation cohort (AUC: 0.822) to differentiate from normal individuals and BPH. Interestingly, AUC values were significantly higher for AA PCa patients. When considering concurrent serum measurements of anti-NPM1 antibody and PSA, 97.1% PCa patients at early stage were identified correctly, while 69.2% BPH patients who had elevated PSA levels were found to be anti-NPM1 negative. Additionally, anti-NPM1 antibody levels in PCa patients at early stage significantly increased after surgery treatment.

CONCLUSION

This intriguing data suggested that NPM1 can elicit autoantibody response in PCa and might be a potential biomarker for the immunodiagnosis and prognosis of PCa, and for supplementing PSA testing in distinguishing PCa from BPH. Prostate 76:1375-1386, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Immunoseroproteomic Profiling in African American Men with Prostate Cancer: Evidence for an Autoantibody Response to Glycolysis and Plasminogen-Associated Proteins

African American (AA) men suffer from a disproportionately high incidence and mortality of prostate cancer (PCa) compared with other racial/ethnic groups. Despite these disparities, African American men are underrepresented in clinical trials and in studies on PCa biology and biomarker discovery. We used immunoseroproteomics to profile antitumor autoantibody responses in AA and European American (EA) men with PCa, and explored differences in these responses. This minimally invasive approach detects autoantibodies to tumor-associated antigens that could serve as clinical biomarkers and immunotherapeutic agents. Sera from AA and EA men with PCa were probed by immunoblotting against PC3 cell proteins, with AA sera showing stronger immunoreactivity. Mass spectrometry analysis of immunoreactive protein spots revealed that several AA sera contained autoantibodies to a number of proteins associated with both the glycolysis and plasminogen pathways, particularly to alpha-enolase (ENO1). The proteomic data is deposited in ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD003968. Analysis of sera from 340 racially diverse men by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) showed higher frequency of anti-ENO1 autoantibodies in PCa sera compared with control sera. We observed differences between AA-PCa and EA-PCa patients in their immunoreactivity against ENO1. Although EA-PCa sera reacted with higher frequency against purified ENO1 in ELISA and recognized by immunoblotting the endogenous cellular ENO1 across a panel of prostate cell lines, AA-PCa sera reacted weakly against this protein by ELISA but recognized it by immunoblotting preferentially in metastatic cell lines. These race-related differences in immunoreactivity to ENO1 could not be accounted by differential autoantibody recognition of phosphoepitopes within this antigen. Proteomic analysis revealed differences in the posttranslational modification profiles of ENO1 variants differentially recognized by AA-PCa and EA-PCa sera. These intriguing results suggest the possibility of race-related differences in the antitumor autoantibody response in PCa, and have implications for defining novel biological determinants of PCa health disparities.