Identification of Candidate Plasma Protein Biomarkers for Cervical Cancer Using the Multiplex Proximity Extension Assay
MOLECULAR & CELLULAR PROTEOMICS
Authors: Berggrund, Malin; Enroth, Stefan; Lundberg, Martin; Assarsson, Erika; Stalberg, Karin; Lindquist, David; Hallmans, Goran; Grankvist, Kjeii; Olovsson, Matts; Gyllensten, Ulf
Abstract
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is recommended as the primary test in cervical cancer screening, with co-testing by cytology for HPV-positive women to identify cervical lesions. Cytology has low sensitivity and there is a need to identify biomarkers that could identify dysplasia that are likely to progress to cancer. We searched for plasma proteins that could identify women with cervical cancer using the multiplex proximity extension assay (PEA). The abundance of 100 proteins were measured in plasma collected at the time of diagnosis of patients with invasive cervical cancer and in population controls using the Olink Multiplex panels CVD II, INF I, and ONC II. Eighty proteins showed increased levels in cases compared with controls. We identified a signature of 11 proteins (PTX3, ITGB1BP2, AXIN1, STAMPB, SRC, SIRT2, 4E-BP1, PAPPA, HB-EGF, NEMO and IL27) that distinguished cases and controls with a sensitivity of 0.96 at a specificity of 1.0. This signature was evaluated in a prospective replication cohort with samples collected before, at or after diagnosis and achieved a sensitivity of 0.78 and a specificity 0.56 separating samples collected at the time of diagnosis of invasive cancer from samples collected prior to diagnosis. No difference in abundance was seen between samples collected prior to diagnosis or after treatment as compared with population controls, indicating that this protein signature is mainly informative close to time of diagnosis. Further studies are needed to determine the optimal window in time prior to diagnosis for these biomarker candidates.
Antibody-mediated delivery of interleukin 4 to the neo-vasculature reduces chronic skin inflammation
JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGICAL SCIENCE
Authors: Hemmerle, Teresa; Zgraggen, Silvana; Matasci, Mattia; Halin, Cornelia; Detmar, Michael; Neri, Dario
Abstract
Background: The antibody-mediated delivery of cytokines ("immunocytokines") to sites of pathological angiogenesis represents an attractive strategy for the development of innovative biopharmaceuticals, capable of modulating the activity of the immune system in cancer and in chronic inflammatory conditions. Objective: Recombinant IL4 has previously been shown to be therapeutically active in patients with psoriasis. The antibody-mediated delivery of this cytokine to sites of chronic skin inflammatory conditions should lead to an improved potency and selectivity, compared to non-targeted IL4. Methods: The therapeutic activity of F8-IL4, a fusion protein of the F8 antibody (specific to the alternatively-spliced EDA domain of fibronectin) with murine IL4, was investigated in three immunocompetent mouse models of skin inflammation: two induced by the TLR7/8 ligand imiquimod (in Balb/c and C57BL16) and one mediated by the over-expression of VEGF-A. Results: The EDA domain of fibronectin, a marker for angiogenesis, is expressed in the inflamed skin in all three models and F8-IL4 selectively localized to inflamed skin lesions following intravenous administration. The F8-IL4 fusion protein mediated a therapeutic benefit, which was superior to the one of a non-targeted version of IL4 and led to increased levels of key regulatory cytokines (including IL5, IL10, IL13, and IL27) in the inflamed skin, while IL2 levels were not affected in all treatment groups. A murine version of etanercept and a murine anti-IL17 antibody were used as positive control in the therapy experiments. Conclusion: Skin inflammatory lesions can be selectively targeted using anti-EDA antibody-cytokine fusion proteins and the pharmacodelivery of IL4 confers a therapeutic benefit by shifting the cytokine balance. (C) 2014 Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.