Quantitative in situ detection of phosphoproteins in fixed tissues using quantum dot technology

Trends in targeted delivery of nanomaterials in colon cancer diagnosis and treatment

Colon cancer is an adenocarcinoma, which subsequently develops into malignant tumors, if not treated properly. The current colon cancer therapy mainly revolves around chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, but the search continues for more effective interventions. With the advancement of nanoparticles (NPs), it is now possible to diagnose and treat colon cancers with different types, shapes, and sizes of NPs. Nanoformulations such as quantum dots, iron oxide, polymeric NPs, dendrimers, polypeptides, gold NPs, silver NPs, platinum NPs, and cerium oxide have been either extensively used alone or in combination with other nanomaterials or drugs in colon cancer diagnosis, and treatments. These nanoformulations possess high biocompatibility and bioavailability, which makes them the most suitable candidates for cancer treatment. The size and shape of NPs are critical to achieving an effective drug delivery in cancer treatment and diagnosis. Most NPs currently are under different testing phases (in vitro, preclinical, and clinical), whereas some of them have been approved for therapeutic applications. We have comprehensively reviewed the recent advances in the applications of NPs-based formulations in colon cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Advances in the application of nanotechnology in the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal tumors

Nanotechnology has broad application prospects in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Integrating chemistry, engineering, biology and medicine, nanotechnology is a multidisciplinary research field. Nanoscale imaging technology significantly improves the precision and accuracy of tumor diagnosis. Nanocarriers are able to significantly improve the accuracy of dose and targeted drug delivery and reduce the toxic side effects. This review focuses on the emerging roles of these innovative technologies in gastrointestinal cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. Although several problems and barriers are hampering the development of nanodevices, the potential for nanotechnologies to function as multimodal nanotheranostic agents will likely pave the way for the fight against gastrointestinal cancer.

Multiplexed ion beam imaging of human breast tumors

Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is a tool for visualizing protein expression that is employed as part of the diagnostic workup for the majority of solid tissue malignancies. Existing IHC methods use antibodies tagged with fluorophores or enzyme reporters that generate colored pigments. Because these reporters exhibit spectral and spatial overlap when used simultaneously, multiplexed IHC is not routinely used in clinical settings. We have developed a method that uses secondary ion mass spectrometry to image antibodies tagged with isotopically pure elemental metal reporters. Multiplexed ion beam imaging (MIBI) is capable of analyzing up to 100 targets simultaneously over a five-log dynamic range. Here, we used MIBI to analyze formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded human breast tumor tissue sections stained with ten labels simultaneously. The resulting data suggest that MIBI can provide new insights into disease pathogenesis that will be valuable for basic research, drug discovery and clinical diagnostics.

Phospho-ERK(THR202/Tyr214) is overexpressed in hairy cell leukemia and is a useful diagnostic marker in bone marrow trephine sections

BRAF V600E mutations are present in virtually all cases of hairy cell leukemia (HCL). We hypothesized that detection of phospho-ERK (pERK) in tissue sections may be a useful marker for diagnosis of HCL. pERK/CD20 double immunostaining was performed on 90 formalin-fixed bone marrow trephine samples affected with small B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders, including 28 cases of HCL. pERK staining was observed in all 28 cases of HCL and in 1 of 62 cases of non-HCL B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders. By allele-specific polymerase chain reaction, all 11 cases of HCL with available DNA were positive for BRAF V600E, as was the 1 pERK non-HCL case. The remaining 31 non-HCL cases tested were negative for BRAF V600E. The sensitivity and specificity of pERK for diagnosis of HCL was 100% and 98%, respectively. We conclude that the presence of pERK as detected by immunohistochemical staining is a useful surrogate marker for BRAF V600E in the diagnosis of HCL.

Automated REcognition of tissue-associated erythrocytes (ARETE)-a new tool in tissue cytometry

Automated microscopic image analysis of immunofluorescence-stained targets on tissue sections is challenged by autofluorescent elements such as erythrocytes, which might interfere with target segmentation and quantification. Therefore, we developed an automated system (Automated REcognition of Tissue-associated Erythrocytes; ARETE) for in silico exclusion of erythrocytes. To detect erythrocytes in transmission images, a cascade of boosted decision trees of Haar-like features was trained on 8,640/4,000 areas (15 × 15 pixels) with/without erythrocytes from images of placental sections (4 µm). Ground truth data were generated on 28 transmission images. At least two human experts labelled the area covered by erythrocytes. For validation, output masks of human experts and ARETE were compared pixel-wise against a mask obtained from majority voting of human experts. F1 score, specificity, and Cohen's κ coefficients were calculated. To study the influence of erythrocyte-derived autofluorescence, we investigated the expression levels of a protein (receptor for advanced glycated end products; RAGE) in placenta and number of Ki-67-positive/cytokeratin 8-positive epithelial cells in colon sections. ARETE exhibited high sensitivity (99.87%) and specificity (99.81%) on a training-subset and processed transmission images (1,392 × 1,024 pixels) within 4 sec. ARETE and human expert's F1-scores were 0.55 versus 0.76, specificities 0.85 versus 0.92 and Cohen's κ coefficients 0.41 versus 0.68. A ranking of Cohen's κ coefficient by the scale of Fleiss certified "good agreement" between ARETE and the human experts. Applying ARETE, we demonstrated 4-14% false-positive RAGE-expression in placenta, and 18% falsely detected proliferative epithelial cells in colon, caused by erythrocyte-autofluorescence. ARETE is a fast system for in silico reduction of erythrocytes, which improves automated image analysis in research and diagnostic pathology.

Comparative phosphoproteomics analysis of the effects of L-methionine on dairy cow mammary epithelial cells

Lu, L., Gao, X., Li, Q., Huang, J., Liu, R. and Li, H. 2012. Comparative phosphoproteomics analysis of the effects of L-methionine on dairy cow mammary epithelial cells. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 92: 433–442. L-methionine is an essential amino acid that plays fundamental roles in protein synthesis. Many nuclear phosphorylated proteins such as Stat5 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 5) and mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) regulate milk protein synthesis. But a comprehensive understanding of transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of milk protein synthesis is lacking. In the current study, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE)/MS-based proteomics analysis was used to identify phosphoproteins responsible for milk protein synthesis in dairy cow mammary epithelial cells (DCMECs). The effects of L-methionine on DCMECs were analyzed by CASY (Counter Analyser System) technique, reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography. The results showed that rate of cell proliferation and expression of β-casein were increased in DCMECs treated with 0.6 mM L-methionine for 24 h. Five proteins for which expression was significantly increased in DCMECs were selected, and their expression changes were verified by quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot analysis. The five up-regulated expressed phosphoproteins included Staphylococcal nuclease domain-containing protein 1(SND1), Septin-6, Glycyl-tRNA synthetase (GARS), Twinfilin-1 and eukaryotic elongation factor1-beta (eEF1B). This study revealed that availability of L-methionine influences the levels of nuclear phosphorylated proteins of DCMECs which opens a new avenue for the study of the molecular mechanism linking to milk protein synthesis.

Proteomic analysis of the nuclear phosphorylated proteins in dairy cow mammary epithelial cells treated with estrogen

Estrogen regulates a variety of physiological processes, including mammary gland growth, morphogenesis of the mammary gland, proliferation and differentiation, and elevating the expression of milk proteins. Many nuclear phosphorylated proteins such as pStat5 and mTOR regulate milk protein synthesis. But the detail of milk protein synthesis controlled at the transcript level and posttranslational level is not well-known. To contribute to the understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying estrogen action on the dairy cow mammary epithelial cells (DCMECs), nuclear phosphorylated proteins regulated by estrogen in DCMECs were identified. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization/time of flight mass spectrometry were used to identify the changes of nuclear phosphorylated proteins in DCMECs treated with estrogen. Seven proteins were identified differentially up-expressed in DCMECs after 24-h estrogen exposure: including glycyl-tRNA synthetase, previously reported in milk protein synthesis of DCMECs, belonging to the class-II aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase family; proteins involved in other cellular functions, such as translation initiation factors, GTP-binding nuclear proteins, heat-shock proteins, and proteins belonging to ubiquitin-proteasome system. This screening reveals that estrogen influences the levels of nuclear phosphorylated proteins of DCMECs which opens new avenue for the study of the molecular mechanism linking to milk synthesis.

Semiconductor quantum dots for in vitro diagnostics and cellular imaging

The need for companion diagnostics, point-of-care testing (POCT) and high-throughput screening in clinical diagnostics and personalized medicine has pushed the need for more biological information from a single sample at extremely low concentrations and volumes. Optical biosensors based on semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) can answer these requirements because their unique photophysical properties are ideally suited for highly sensitive multiplexed detection. Many different biological systems have been successfully scrutinized with a large variety of QDs over the past decade but their future as widely applied commercial biosensors is still open. In this review, we highlight recent in vitro diagnostic and cellular imaging applications of QDs and discuss milestones and obstacles on their way toward integration into real-life diagnostic and medical applications.

Phosphoproteins and the dawn of functional phenotyping

Phosphorylation is one of the most important processes in cell signal transduction. Detection of phosphorylated proteins in cancer tissue is useful for prognosis and diagnosis, and it might be very helpful in monitoring treatment using targeted therapy. For these reasons, the in situ quantitative measurement and subcellular localization of phosphoproteins will likely be important. However, phosphoproteins are extremely labile, a likely explanation for inconsistent or contradictory reports. Thus, the development of new paradigms for tissue handling, immunostaining, and quality control are needed.

Selection and validation of antibodies for signal transduction immunohistochemistry

The in situ expression levels and subcellular localization of molecules involved in signal transduction using specific antibodies can be useful for prognosis and diagnosis of human diseases such as cancer. In addition, it has the potential to be helpful in monitoring biologic response to targeted therapies. The increasing availability of such antibodies makes these studies feasible. However, compared to typical immunohistochemical stains in which stabile molecules such as cytokeratins are targeted, additional -validation may be required for signal transduction immunohistochemistry.

Probing intracellular biomarkers and mediators of cell activation using nanosensors and bioorthogonal chemistry

Nanomaterials offer unique physical properties that make them ideal biosensors for scant cell populations. However, specific targeting of nanoparticles to intracellular proteins has been challenging. Here, we describe a technique to improve intracellular biomarker sensing using nanoparticles that is based on bioorthogonal chemistry. Using trans-cyclooctene-modified affinity ligands that are administered to semipermeabilized cells and revealed by cycloaddition reaction with tetrazine-conjugated nanoparticles, we demonstrate site-specific amplification of nanomaterial binding. We also show that this technique is capable of sensing protein biomarkers and phosho-protein signal mediators, both within the cytosol and nucleus, via magnetic or fluorescent modalities. We expect the described method will have broad applications in nanomaterial-based diagnostics and therapeutics.

Protein kinase C-beta gene variants, pathway activation, and enzastaurin activity in lung cancer

BACKGROUND

Protein kinase C-beta2 (PKCbeta2) is a splice-variant of the PRKCB1 gene and belongs to a family of serine/threonine-specific kinases that are predominantly activated by diacylglycerol, calcium, and phorbol ester. Cellular functions associated with PKCbeta2 activation include transformation, proliferation, and inhibition of apoptosis. Enzastaurin (LY317615) is an oral, selective, potent inhibitor of the PKCbeta2 kinase. Preclinical activity for this agent was predominantly reported in lymphoma, glioblastoma, and colorectal cancer. In patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose previous therapy had failed, 13% of patients had disease control for 6 months with single-agent therapy.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We investigated whether biologically relevant variants of PRKCB1 exist in lung cancer cell lines in the context of enzastaurin-induced proliferation and kinase inhibition, using exon sequencing, immunoblotting, and cytotoxicity assays in NSCLC and small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell lines.

RESULTS

We discovered a total of 6 single-nucleotide variants, but only 1 resulted in an amino acid substitution (T40I). This substitution was not located in the kinase domain of PKCbeta2 and did not affect enzastaurin's antiproliferative or phosphorylation-inhibitory activity. We found enzastaurin to be equally active in NSCLC and SCLC cell lines, with values of the 50% inhibitory concentration in a range of 0.05-0.2 microM.

CONCLUSION

The inhibition of phosphorylation of PKCbeta2 and the downstream molecules glycogen synthase kinase-3beta, S6RP, Akt, and forkhead transcription factor was evident in the same concentration range, which suggests the premise that the determination of phosphorylation levels of these molecules in human tissue specimens may be a useful pharmacodynamic parameter for in vivo target inhibition by enzastaurin.