Proteomic analysis of infected primary human leucocytes revealed PSTK as potential treatment-monitoring marker for active and latent tuberculosis

Omics Biomarkers for Monitoring Tuberculosis Treatment: A Mini-Review of Recent Insights and Future Approaches

Poor sensitivity of sputum conversion for monitoring tuberculosis (TB) treatment that makes identification of a non-sputum-based biomarker is urgently needed. Monitoring biomarkers in TB treatment is used to decide whether critical thresholds have been reached and helps clinicians to conclude the therapeutic success. In this mini review, we highlight recent studies on omics-related contributes to identifying of a novel biomarker as surrogate markers for the cure and predicting future reactivation risk following TB treatment. We catalogue the studies published to seek the progress made in transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics in pulmonary TB. We also discuss how integrative multi-omics data will provide further understanding and effective TB treatment, such as revealing the interrelationships at multiple molecular levels, facilitating the identification of biologically interconnected processes, and accelerating precision medicine in TB treatment. However, proper validation in prospective longitudinal studies with long-term follow-up and outcome assessment must be conducted before the biomarkers are utilized in clinical practice.

Proteomics Analysis of Andrographolide-Induced Apoptosis via the Regulation of Tumor Suppressor p53 Proteolysis in Cervical Cancer-Derived Human Papillomavirus 16-Positive Cell Lines

Regardless of the prophylactic vaccine accessibility, persistent infections of high-risk human papillomaviruses (hr-HPVs), recognized as an etiology of cervical cancers, continues to represent a major health problem for the world population. An overexpression of viral early protein 6 (E6) is linked to carcinogenesis. E6 induces anti-apoptosis by degrading tumor suppressor proteins p53 (p53) via E6-E6-associated protein (E6AP)-mediated polyubiquitination. Thus, the restoration of apoptosis by interfering with the E6 function has been proposed as a selective medicinal strategy. This study aimed to determine the activities of andrographolide (Androg) on the disturbance of E6-mediated p53 degradation in cervical cancer cell lines using a proteomic approach. These results demonstrated that Androg could restore the intracellular p53 level, leading to apoptosis-induced cell death in HPV16-positive cervical cancer cell lines, SiHa and CaSki. Mechanistically, the anti-tumor activity of Androg essentially relied on the reduction in host cell proteins, which are associated with ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis pathways, particularly HERC4 and SMURF2. They are gradually suppressed in Androg-treated HPV16-positive cervical cancer cells. Collectively, the restoration of p53 in HPV16-positive cervical cancer cells might be achieved by disruption of E3 ubiquitin ligase activity by Androg, which could be an alternative treatment for HPV-associated epithelial lesions.

Characterisation of secretome-based immune responses of human leukocytes infected with various Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineages

Background

Differences in immune responses against different lineages of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), and by different types of immune cell, are still poorly understood. We aimed to compare the secretome-based immune responses among three Mtb lineages and among immune-cell types. The immune responses were also investigated during infection and when the bacilli had been eliminated from the immune cells.

Methods

Human primary leukocytes were infected with strains representing three lineages of Mtb (East-Asian, Indo-Oceanic and Euro-American). Label-free GeLC MS/MS proteomic analysis of secretomes was performed. The response of each immune-cell type was compared with the appropriate interactome database for each.

Results

The expression pattern of proteins secreted by Mtb-infected leukocytes differed among Mtb lineages. The ancestral lineage (IO lineage) had a greater ability to activate MMP14 (associated with leukocyte migration) than did the more recent lineages (EA and EuA). During infection, proteins secreted by macrophages, dendritic cells, neutrophils and B-cells were associated with cell proliferation. Following clearance of Mtb, proteins associated with interferon signaling were found in macrophages, dendritic cells and neutrophils: proteins associated with antigen processing were found in B-cells and regulatory T-cells. Expression of immune response-related proteins from many immune-cell types might be suppressed by Mtb infection. Our study has provided a better insight into the host-pathogen interaction and immune response against different Mtb lineages.