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Hummersgaard Hansen A, Wallem Breisnes H, Skovhus Prior T, Hilberg O, Guldager Kring Rasmussen D, Genovese F, Vestergaard Lukassen M, Svensson B, Løcke Langholm L, Manon-Jensen T, Asser Karsdal M, Julie Leeming D, Bendstrup E, Marie Bülow Sand J. A serologically assessed neo-epitope biomarker of cellular fibronectin degradation is related to pulmonary fibrosis. Clin Biochem 2023; 118:110599. [PMID: 37343745 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinbiochem.2023.110599] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2022] [Revised: 04/19/2023] [Accepted: 06/14/2023] [Indexed: 06/23/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is characterized by excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling, herein ECM degradation. Fibronectin (FN) is an important component of the ECM that is produced by multiple cell types, including fibroblasts. Extra domain B (EDB) is specific for a cellular FN isoform which is found in the ECM. We sought to develop a non-invasive test to investigate whether matrix metalloproteinase 8 (MMP-8) degradation of EDB in cellular FN results in a specific protein fragment that can be assessed serologically and if levels relate to pulmonary fibrosis. METHOD Cellular FN was cleaved in vitro by MMP-8 and a protein fragment was identified by mass spectrometry. A monoclonal antibody (mAb) was generated, targeting a neo-epitope originating from EDB in cellular FN. Utilizing this mAb, a neo-epitope specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (FN-EDB) was developed and technically validated. Serum FN-EDB was assessed in an IPF cohort (n=98), registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02818712), and in healthy controls (n=35). RESULTS The FN-EDB assay had high specificity for the MMP-8 degraded neo-epitope and was technically robust. FN-EDB serum levels were not influenced by age, sex, ethnicity, or BMI. Moreover, FN-EDB serum levels were significantly higher in IPF patients (median 31.38 [IQR 25.79-46.84] ng/mL) as compared to healthy controls (median 28.05 [IQR 21.58-33.88] ng/mL, p=0.023). CONCLUSION We developed the neo-epitope specific FN-EDB assay, a competitive ELISA, as a tool for serological assessment of MMP-8 mediated degradation of EDB in cellular FN. This study indicates that degradation of EDB in cellular FN is elevated in IPF and warrants further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annika Hummersgaard Hansen
- Hepatic and Pulmonary Research, Nordic Bioscience, Herlev, Denmark; Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
| | - Helene Wallem Breisnes
- Hepatic and Pulmonary Research, Nordic Bioscience, Herlev, Denmark; Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Thomas Skovhus Prior
- Center for Rare Lung Diseases, Department of Respiratory Diseases and Allergy, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus Denmark
| | - Ole Hilberg
- Medical Department Vejle Hospital, Southern Danish University Hospital, Vejle, Denmark
| | | | | | | | - Birte Svensson
- Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
| | | | | | | | | | - Elisabeth Bendstrup
- Center for Rare Lung Diseases, Department of Respiratory Diseases and Allergy, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus Denmark
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