Project description:Desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT) is an aggressive malignancy that occurs predominantly in young adult males and is characterized by abdominopelvic sarcomatosis exhibiting multi-lineage cellular nests of epithelial, muscular, mesenchymal, and neural differentiation admixed with desmoplastic stroma. Prior to the recognition of the disease as a distinct clinical entity, DSRCT was invariably misclassified as poorly differentiated atypical cancer of the testes, ovary, mesentery, or gastrointestinal tract, and the chemotherapies used for those malignancies elicited poor clinical response. As previously reported, a tectonic shift in the treatment of these patients occurred after researchers made two astute observations: 1) DSRCT microscopically resembles other small round “blue cell” sarcoma subtypes (e.g., ES, rhabdomyosarcoma, synovial sarcoma), and 2) DSRCT and ES have the same N-terminal EWSR1 fusion partner. Proteomic analysis using a reverse-phase protein lysate array (RPPA) was used to elucidate biomarkers that distinguish DSRCT from adjacent normal tissue and Ewing sarcoma. This proteomic analysis revealed novel proteins, such as the androgen receptor and Syk, that may be susceptible to drug targeting, as well as oncogenic pathways like Akt-PI3K that are highly expressed in DSRCT.
Project description:Introduction: Early pulmonary vascular disease in preterm infants is associated with the subsequent development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and pulmonary hypertension (PH), however, mechanisms that contribute to or identify infants with increased susceptibility for BPD and/or PH are incompletely understood. Therefore, we tested if changes in circulating angiogenic peptides during the first week of life are associated with the later development of BPD and/or PH. We further sought to determine alternate peptides and related signalling pathways with the risk for BPD or PH. Methods: We prospectively enrolled infants with gestational age <34 weeks gestation and collected blood samples during their first week of life. BPD and PH were assessed at 36 weeks postmenstrual age. Samples were assayed for each of the 1121 peptides included in the SOMAscanTM technology, with subsequent pathway analysis. Results: Of 102 study infants, 82 had BPD and 13 had PH. Multiple angiogenic proteins (PF-4, VEGF121, ANG-1, BMP10, HGF, ANG2) were associated with the subsequent diagnosis of BPD, and FGF-19, PF-4, CTAP-III and PDGF-AA levels were associated with BPD severity. Early increases in BMP10 was strongly associated with the late risk for BPD and PH. Conclusion: We found that early alterations of circulating angiogenic peptides and others were associated with the subsequent development of BPD. We further identified peptides that were associated with BPD severity and BPD-associated PH, including BMP10. We speculate that proteomic biomarkers during the first week of life may identify infants at risk for BPD and/or PH to enhance care and research.
Project description:We measued IgG autoantibodies associated with Connective Tissue Diseases (CTDs) and Anti-Cytokine Antibodies (ACA) in idiopathic Multicentric Castleman Disease (iMCD) patients and healthy controls who received the BNT162b2 vaccine.
Project description:We measued IgG autoantibodies associated with Connective Tissue Diseases (CTDs) and Anti-Cytokine Antibodies (ACA) in idiopathic Multicentric Castleman Disease (iMCD) patients and healthy controls who received the BNT162b2 vaccine.
Project description:We measued IgG autoantibodies associated with Connective Tissue Diseases (CTDs) and Anti-Cytokine Antibodies (ACA) in idiopathic Multicentric Castleman Disease (iMCD) patients and healthy controls who received the BNT162b2 vaccine.
Project description:Protein expression profile was analyzed by antibody array for cell cycle control phosphorylation with 238 antibodies with bladder cancer cell line, TCCSUP, and KSHV-infected TCCSUP cells.
Project description:Malaria is the most important vector-borne disease in Southeast Asia. In Thailand, malaria incidence has been in decline, with the annual parasite incidence dropping to 0.56 in 2007. The Myanmar-Thai border province of Tak is considered meso-endemic for malaria, and both Plasmodium vivax (Pv) and P. falciparum (Pf) are equally present. As part of the International Centers for Excellence in Malaria Research (ICEMR) - Southeast Asia project, malaria surveillance is conducted in Tak on both the healthy population and hospital patients, and parasite prevalence is reportedly <1%. However, little is known about the immuno-epidemiology associated with Pf and Pv infections in the region regarding the breadth and targets of the antibody response to the malaria parasites. Our hypothesis is that the serological profiles of the population will reflect the low parasite prevalence in Tak, showing little antibody reactivity to Pv and Pf. To examine this question, we developed a protein microarray displaying the top 500 most immunogenic antigens of these two Plasmodium species. We collected whole blood samples from healthy residents of Mae Salid Noi village during a Mass Blood Survey for malaria in the region. Whole blood was sent to UCI for qPCR and serology analysis. Blood plasma was probed on the protein microarray; genomic DNA was extracted from RBC pellets and screened by qPCR for infection confirmation and species identification. One-hundred percent (n=381) of serum samples were reactive to both Pv and Pf antigens, including all qPCR-negative samples.
Project description:Small-molecule inhibitors of AKT signaling are being in evaluated in patients with various cancer types, but have so far proven therapeutically disappointing for reasons that remain unclear. Here, we treat cancer cells with sub-therapeutic doses of Akti-1/2, an allosteric small molecule AKT inhibitor, in order to experimentally model pharmacologic inhibition of AKT signaling in vitro. We then apply a combined RNA, protein, and metabolite profiling approach to develop an integrated, multi-scale, molecular snapshot of this “AKTlow” cancer cell state. We find that AKT-inhibited cancer cells suppress thousands of mRNA transcripts, and proteins related to the cell cycle, ribosome, and protein translation. Surprisingly, however, these AKT-inhibited cells simultaneously up-regulate a host of other proteins and metabolites post-transcriptionally, reflecting activation of their endo-vesiculo-membrane system, secretion of inflammatory proteins, and elaboration of extracellular microvesicles. Importantly, these microvesicles enable rapidly proliferating cancer cells of various types to better withstand different stress conditions, including serum deprivation, hypoxia, or cytotoxic chemotherapy in vitro and xenografting in vivo. These findings suggest a model whereby cancer cells experiencing a partial inhibition of AKT signaling may actually promote the survival of neighbors through non-cell autonomous communication.