Profiling plasma protease activity with charge-changing peptides enables detection and classification of gastrointestinal cancers.

ABSTRACT: Early detection of gastrointestinal (GI) cancers-including colorectal cancer (CRC), gastric cancer (GC), and esophagogastric junction cancer (EGJC)-is essential for improving patient outcomes. However, current diagnostic methods such as endoscopy and colonoscopy are invasive, costly, and not widely accessible. Proteases are elevated in many cancers and are detectable in peripheral blood, making them promising candidates for noninvasive diagnostic strategies. We employed a six-probe charge-changing peptide (CCP) panel to profile cancer-associated protease activity in human plasma. Each CCP undergoes a charge shift upon cleavage by a specific protease, enabling detection via gel electrophoresis. Plasma samples from GI cancer patients (CRC, GC, EGJC; N = 68) and healthy controls (HC; N = 31)

SUBMITTER: Suwatthanarak T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12402143 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature