Reynolds JA, Li Y, Herlitz L, Mohan C, Putterman C. Novel biomarker discovery through comprehensive proteomic analysis of lupus mouse serum.
J Autoimmun 2024;
142:103134. [PMID:
37944214 PMCID:
PMC10957328 DOI:
10.1016/j.jaut.2023.103134]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2023] [Revised: 10/11/2023] [Accepted: 10/13/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES
The difficulty of monitoring organ-specific pathology in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) often complicates disease prognostication and treatment. Improved non-invasive biomarkers of active organ pathology, particularly lupus nephritis, would improve patient care. We sought to validate and apply a novel strategy to generate the first comprehensive serum proteome of a lupus mouse model and identify mechanism-linked lupus biomarker candidates for subsequent clinical investigation.
METHODS
Serum levels of 1308 diverse proteins were measured in eight adult female MRL/lpr lupus mice and eight control MRL/mpj mice. ELISA validation confirmed fold increases. Protein enrichment analysis provided biological relevance to findings. Individual protein levels were correlated with measures of lymphoproliferative, humoral, and renal disease.
RESULTS
Four hundred and six proteins were increased in MRL/lpr serum, including proteins increased in human SLE such as VCAM-1, L-selectin, TNFRI/II, TWEAK, CXCL13, MCP-1, IP-10, IL-10, and TARC. Newly validated proteins included IL-6, IL-17, and MDC. Results of pathway enrichment analysis, which revealed enhancement of cytokine signaling and immune cell migration, reinforced the similarity of the MRL/lpr disease to human pathology. Fifty-two proteins positively correlated with at least one measure of lupus-like disease. TECK, TSLP, PDGFR-alpha, and MDC were identified as novel candidate biomarkers of renal disease.
CONCLUSIONS
We successfully validated a novel serum proteomic screening strategy in a spontaneous murine lupus model that highlighted potential new biomarkers. Importantly, we generated a comprehensive snapshot of the serum proteome which will enable identification of other candidates and serve as a reference for future mechanistic and therapeutic studies in lupus.
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