Profiling pancreatic cancer-secreted proteome using 15N amino acids and serum-free media

An Integrated Meta-Analysis of Secretome and Proteome Identify Potential Biomarkers of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is extremely aggressive, has an unfavorable prognosis, and there are no biomarkers for early detection of the disease or identification of individuals at high risk for morbidity or mortality. The cellular and molecular complexity of PDAC leads to inconsistences in clinical validations of many proteins that have been evaluated as prognostic biomarkers of the disease. The tumor secretome, a potential source of biomarkers in PDAC, plays a crucial role in cell proliferation and metastasis, as well as in resistance to treatments, which together contribute to a worse clinical outcome. The massive amount of proteomic data from pancreatic cancer that has been generated from previous studies can be integrated and explored to uncover secreted proteins relevant to the diagnosis and prognosis of the disease. The present study aimed to perform an integrated meta-analysis of PDAC proteome and secretome public data to identify potential biomarkers of the disease. Our meta-analysis combined mass spectrometry data obtained from two systematic reviews of the pancreatic cancer literature, which independently selected 20 studies of the secretome and 35 of the proteome. Next, we predicted the secreted proteins using seven in silico tools or databases, which identified 39 secreted proteins shared between the secretome and proteome data. Notably, the expression of 31 genes of these secretome-related proteins was upregulated in PDAC samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) when compared to control samples from TCGA and The Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx). The prognostic value of these 39 secreted proteins in predicting survival outcome was confirmed using gene expression data from four PDAC datasets (validation set). The gene expression of these secreted proteins was able to distinguish high- and low-survival patients in nine additional tumor types from TCGA, demonstrating that deregulation of these secreted proteins may also contribute to the prognosis in multiple cancers types. Finally, we compared the prognostic value of the identified secreted proteins in PDAC biomarkers studies from the literature. This analysis revealed that our gene signature performed equally well or better than the signatures from these previous studies. In conclusion, our integrated meta-analysis of PDAC proteome and secretome identified 39 secreted proteins as potential biomarkers, and the tumor gene expression profile of these proteins in patients with PDAC is associated with worse overall survival.

Helicobacter pylori outer inflammatory protein A (OipA) suppresses apoptosis of AGS gastric cells in vitro

Outer inflammatory protein A (OipA) is an important virulence factor associated with gastric cancer and ulcer development; however, the results have not been well established and turned out to be controversial. This study aims to elucidate the role of OipA in Helicobacter pylori infection using clinical strains harbouring oipA "on" and "off" motifs. Proteomics analysis was performed on AGS cell pre-infection and postinfection with H. pylori oipA "on" and "off" strains, using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. AGS apoptosis and cell cycle assays were performed. Moreover, expression of vacuolating cytotoxin A (VacA) was screened using Western blotting. AGS proteins that have been suggested previously to play a role or associated with gastric disease were down-regulated postinfection with oipA "off" strains comparing to oipA "on" strains. Furthermore, oipA "off" and ΔoipA cause higher level of AGS cells apoptosis and G0/G1 cell-cycle arrest than oipA "on" strains. Interestingly, deletion of oipA increased bacterial VacA production. The capability of H. pylori to induce apoptosis and suppress expression of proteins having roles in human disease in the absence of oipA suggests that strains not expressing OipA may be less virulent or may even be protective against carcinogenesis compared those expressing OipA. This potentially explains the higher incidence of gastric cancer in East Asia where oipA "on" strains predominates.

Metabolic rewiring of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: New routes to follow within the maze

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a debilitating and almost universally fatal malignancy. Despite advances in understanding of the oncogenetics of the disease, very few clinical benefits have been shown. One of the main characteristics of PDAC is the tumor architecture where tumor cells are surrounded by a firm desmoplasia. By reducing vascularization, thus both oxygen and nutrients delivery to the tumor, this stroma causes the appearance of hypoxic zones driving metabolic adaptation in surviving tumor cells in order to cope with challenging conditions. This metabolic reprogramming promoted by environmental constraints enhances PDAC aggressiveness. In this review, we provide a brief overview of previous works regarding the importance of glucose and glutamine addiction of PDAC cells. In particular we aim to highlight the need for exploring the impact of metabolites other than glucose and glutamine, such as non-essential amino acids and oncometabolites, to find new treatments. We also discuss the need for progress in methodology for metabolites detection. The overall purpose of our review is to emphasize the need to look beyond what is currently known, with a focus on amino acid availability, in order to improve our understanding of PDAC biology.

Inhibition of transketolase by oxythiamine altered dynamics of protein signals in pancreatic cancer cells

Oxythiamine (OT), an analogue of anti-metabolite, can suppress the nonoxidative synthesis of ribose and induce cell apoptosis by causing a G1 phase arrest in vitro and in vivo. However, the molecular mechanism remains unclear yet. In the present study, a quantitative proteomic analysis using the modified SILAC method (mSILAC) was performed to determine the effect of metabolic inhibition on dynamic changes of protein expression in MIA PaCa-2 cancer cells treated with OT at various doses (0 μM, 5 μM, 50 μM and 500 μM) and time points (0 h, 12 h and 48 h). A total of 52 differential proteins in MIA PaCa-2 cells treated with OT were identified, including 14 phosphorylated proteins. Based on the dynamic expression pattern, these proteins were categorized in three clusters, straight down-regulation (cluster 1, 37% of total proteins), upright "V" shape expression pattern (cluster 2, 47.8% total), and downright "V" shape pattern (cluster 3, 15.2% total). Among them, Annexin A1 expression was significantly down-regulated by OT treatment in time-dependent manner, while no change of this protein was observed in OT dose-dependent fashion. Pathway analysis suggested that inhibition of transketolase resulted in changes of multiple cellular signaling pathways associated with cell apoptosis. The temporal expression patterns of proteins revealed that OT altered dynamics of protein expression in time-dependent fashion by suppressing phosphor kinase expression, resulting in cancer cell apoptosis. Results from this study suggest that interference of single metabolic enzyme activity altered multiple cellular signaling pathways.

Smoke-induced signal molecules in bone marrow cells from altered low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 5 mice

Mechanism underlying smoke-induced loss of bone mass is unknown. In this study, we hypothesized that protein signals induced by smoking in bone marrow may be associated with the loss of bone mass. Using a proteomics approach, we identified 38 proteins differentially expressed in bone marrow cells from low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 5 (Lrp5) mice exposed to cigarette smoking. Smoking effects on protein expression in bone marrow among three genotypes (Lrp5(+/+), Lrp5(G171V), and Lrp5(-/-)) varied. On the basis of the ratio of protein expression induced by smoking versus nonsmoking, smoke induced protein expression significantly in wild-type mice compared to the other two genotypes (Lrp5(G171V) and Lrp5(-/-)). These proteins include inhibitors of β-catenin and proteins associated with differentiation of osteoclasts. We observed that S100A8 and S100A9 were overexpressed in human smokers compared to nonsmokers, which confirmed the effect of smoking on the expression of two proteins in Lrp5 mice, suggesting the role of these proteins in bone remodeling. Smoke induced expression of S100A8 and S100A9 in a time-dependent fashion, which was opposite of the changes in the ratio of OPG/RANKL in bone marrow cells, suggesting that the high levels of S100A8 and S100A9 may be associated with smoke-induced bone loss by increasing bone resorption.

The presence of IGHG1 in human pancreatic carcinomas is associated with immune evasion mechanisms

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the expression of Igγ-1 chain C region (IGHG1) in human pancreatic carcinomas and determine the biological function of IGHG1 expression in immune evasion mechanisms.

METHODS

Comparative proteomic analysis was used to detect the differential expression of IGHG1 in human pancreatic cancer tissues versus adjacent noncancerous tissues, followed by confirmatory tests including quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, Western blot analysis, immunohistochemistry, and immunofluorescence. A murine pancreatic tumor model was established by transplantation of IGHG1-overexpressing Panc02 cells. The cytotoxic responses of natural killer (NK) cells were assessed with a lactate dehydrogenase release assay.

RESULTS

Igγ-1 chain C region was found to be present in human pancreatic cancer tissues but nearly absent or expressed lower in adjacent noncancerous tissues. In the murine pancreatic tumor model, the tumor growth was significantly accelerated from day 12 to 20 after tumor injection, and the survival time of animals was decreased. Blockage of IGHG1 led to retarded tumor growth and improved survival. The cytotoxicity assay revealed that IGHG1 downregulated the cytotoxic activity of NK cells through inhibition of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity function.

CONCLUSIONS

The presence of IGHG1 in pancreatic cancer cells might constitute an important element responsible for tumor cell proliferation and immune evasion mechanisms.

Proteomics in pancreatic cancer research

In this review, we give an overview of the actual role of proteomic technologies in the study of pancreatic cancers (PCs). We describe PC proteomics on the basis of sample origins, i.e. tissues, body fluids, and PC cell lines. As regards PC tissues, we report the identification of a number of candidate biomarkers of precursor lesions that may allow early diagnosis of this neoplasia. Moreover, we describe cytoskeletal and hypoxia-regulated proteins that confirm the involvement of cytoskeleton modifications and metabolism adaptations in carcinogenesis. We also discuss the most important biomarkers identified by proteomic analysis involved in local invasion and distant metastasis, and in the cross-talk between pancreatic tumor and the surrounding stroma. Furthermore, we report novel candidate biomarkers identified in serum, plasma, and pancreatic juice of cancer patients compared with cancer-free controls. Proteomic alterations in PC cell line models as compared to normal controls and studies on cell lines treated with drugs or new agents to understand their mechanism of pharmacological action or the onset of drug resistance are also presented. Finally, we discuss the recent improvements obtained in classical 2-DE and high-throughput proteomic strategies able to allow the overcoming of relevant proteomic drawbacks.

Inhibition of protein phosphorylation in MIA pancreatic cancer cells: confluence of metabolic and signaling pathways

Oxythiamine (OT), a transketolase inhibitor, is known to inhibit pancreatic cancer cell proliferation. In this study, we investigated the effect of inhibition of the transketolase pathway on signaling pathways in MIA PaCa cancer cells using in-house proteomic techniques. We hypothesized that OT alter protein phosphorylation thus affecting cell cycle arrest and cell proliferation. MIA PaCa-2 cells were cultured in media containing an algal (15)N amino acid mixture at 50% enrichment, with and without OT, to determine protein expression and synthesis. Analysis of cell lysates using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis matrix assisted laser desorption and ionization time-of-flight and time-of-flight mass spectrometry (2-DE-MALDI-TOF/TOF MS) identified 12 phosphor proteins that were significantly suppressed by OT treatment. Many of these proteins are involved in regulation of cycle activities and apoptosis. Among the proteins identified, expression of the phosphor heat shock protein 27 (Hsp27) was dramatically inhibited by OT treatment while the level of its total protein remained unchanged. Hsp27 expression and phosphorylation is known to be associated with drug resistance and cancer cell survival. The changes in phosphorylation of key proteins of cancer proliferation and survival suggest that protein phosphorylation is the confluence of the effects of OT on metabolic and signaling pathways.