Proteomic Approach to Evaluate Mechanisms That Contribute to Food Allergenicity: Comparative 2D-DIGE Analysis of Radioallergosorbent Test Positive and Negative Patients

Proteomic profiles of RAST+ subjects with severe food allergies and RAST− subjects were compared using 2D-DIGE analysis to obtain candidate biomarkers specific to food allergies. Our analysis highlighted 52 proteins that were differentially expressed between the RAST+ and RAST− groups of which 37 were successfully identified that include chondroitin sulfates, zinc finger proteins, C-type lectins, retinoic acid binding proteins, heat shock proteins, myosin, cytokines, mast cell expressed proteins, and MAP kinases. Biological network analysis tool Metacore revealed that most of these regulated proteins play a role in immune tolerance, hypersensitivity and modulate cytokine patterns inducing a Th2 response that typically results in IgE-mediated allergic response which has a direct or indirect biological link to food allergy. Identifying unique biomarkers associated with certain allergic phenotypes and potentially cross-reactive proteins through bioinformatics analyses will provide enormous insight into the mechanisms that underlie allergic response in patients with food allergies

Genomic Analysis Highlights the Role of the JAK-STAT Signaling in the Anti-proliferative Effects of Dietary Flavonoid—‘Ashwagandha’ in Prostate Cancer Cells

Phytochemicals are dietary phytoestrogens that may play a role in prostate cancer prevention. Forty percent of Americans use complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) for disease prevention and therapy. Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) contains flavonoids and active ingredients like alkaloids and steroidal lactones which are called ‘Withanolides’. We hypothesize that the immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties of Ashwagandha might contribute to its overall effectiveness as an anti-carcinogenic agent. The goal of our study was gain insight into the general biological and molecular functions and immunomodulatory processes that are altered as a result of Ashwagandha treatment in prostate cancer cells, and to identify the key signaling mechanisms that are involved in the regulation of these physiological effects using genomic microarray analysis in conjunction with quantitative real-time PCR and western blot analysis. Ashwagandha treatment significantly downregulated the gene and protein expression of proinflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-1β, chemokine IL-8, Hsp70 and STAT-2, while a reciprocal upregulation was observed in gene and protein expression of p38 MAPK, PI3K, caspase 6, Cyclin D and c-myc. Furthermore, Ashwagandha treatment significantly modulated the JAK-STAT pathway which regulates both the apoptosis process as well as the MAP kinase signaling. These studies outline several functionally important classes of genes, which are associated with immune response, signal transduction, cell signaling, transcriptional regulation, apoptosis and cell cycle regulation and provide insight into the molecular signaling mechanisms that are modulated by Ashwagandha, thereby highlighting the use of this bioflavanoid as effective chemopreventive agent relevant to prostate cancer progression

Prostate-Specific Antigen Modulates the Expression of Genes Involved in Prostate Tumor Growth

AbstractProstate-specific antigen (PSA) is a serine protease that is widely used as a surrogate marker in the early diagnosis and management of prostate cancer. The physiological relevance of tissue PSA levels and their role in prostate tumor growth and metastasis are not known. Free-PSA (f-PSA) was purified to homogeneity from human seminal plasma by column chromatography, eliminating hk2 and all known PSA complexes and retaining its protease activity. Confluent monolayers of prostate cancer cell lines, PC-3M and LNCaP, were treated with f-PSA in a series of in vitro experiments to determine the changes in expression of various genes that are known to regulate tumor growth and metastasis. Gene array, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (QPCR), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) results show significant changes in the expression of various cancer-related genes in PC-3M and LNCaP cells treated with f-PSA. In a gene array analysis of PC-3M cells treated with 10 4tM f-PSA, 136 genes were upregulated and 137 genes were downregulated. In LNCaP cells treated with an identical concentration of f-PSA, a total of 793 genes was regulated. QPCR analysis reveals that the genes for urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), VEGF, Pim-1 oncogene, known to promote tumor growth, were significantly downregulated, whereas IFN-γ, known to be a tumor-suppressor gene, was significantly upregulated in f-PSA-treated PC-3M cells. The effect of f-PSA on VEGF and IFN-γ gene expression and on protein release in PC-3M cells was distinctly dose-dependent. In vivo studies showed a significant reduction (P = .03) in tumor load when fPSA was administered in the tumor vicinity of PC-3M tumor-bearing BALB/c nude mice. Our data support the hypothesis that f-PSA plays a significant role in prostate tumor growth by regulating various proangiogenic and antiangiogenic growth factors

Abstract 879: New serum biomarkers for prostate cancer diagnosis

Abstract Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is currently used as a biomarker for the early diagnosis and management of prostate cancer (CaP). However, PSA generally lacks the sensitivity and specificity desired of an effective diagnostic biomarker. The goal of this study was to identify an additional biomarker or a panel of biomarkers that is more sensitive and specific than PSA in differentiating benign vs. malignant prostate disease and/or localized CaP vs. metastatic CaP. Concurrent measurements of circulating IL-8, TNF-alpha (TNF-α) and sTNFR1 were obtained from four groups of men: (1) controls (2) men with elevated PSA with a negative prostate biopsy (eIPSA_negBx) (3) men with clinically localized CaP and (4) men with castration resistant CaP (CRPC). TNF-α (AUC=0.93) and sTNFR1 (AUC=0.97) were strong predictors of elPSA_negBx vs CaP). The best predictor of elPSA_negBx vs prostate cancer was sTNFR1 and IL8 combined (AUC=0.997). The strongest single predictors of localized versus metastatic CaP were TNF-α (AUC=0.992) and PSA (AUC=0.963) levels. Conclusions: The specificity and sensitivity of a PSA-based CaP diagnosis can be significantly enhanced by concurrent serum measurements of IL-8, TNF-α and sTNFR1. In view of the concerns about the ability of PSA to distinguish clinically relevant CaP from indolent disease, assessment of these biomarkers in larger cohort consisting of Caucasians and African Americans is warranted. Citation Format: Kailash C. Chadha, Austin Miller, Bindukumar B. Nair, Stanley A. Schwartz, Donald L. Trump, Willie Underwood. New serum biomarkers for prostate cancer diagnosis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 879. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-879</jats:p

Innovative nanotherapy for the treatment of the chronic skin condition, rosacea. (P3259)

Abstract A chronic skin disorder called Rosacea is primarily characterized by inflammation associated with abnormal innate immune response and the current treatments include oral and topical antibiotics and antimicrobials. CD163 plays a key role in etiology of Rosacea and a combination targeted nanotherapy which includes an topical antibiotic such as doxycycline, an anti-microbial such as Azelaic acid and the anti CD163 antibody would be an effective therapy for Rosacea. We developed a nanoemulsion for the treatment of Rosacea using fluorophores called nanophosphors which are upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), that have the ability to convert near infrared radiations with lower energy into visible radiations with higher energy via a nonlinear optical process and exhibit unique luminescent properties, including high penetration depth into tissues. Our goal was to evaluate the transdermal delivery of this nanoemulsion using an in-vitro skin barrier model (EpiDerm™). Dermal permeability coefficient is calculated and drug concentrations are determined by HPLC. Our results show a significantly higher 72% increase (p&amp;lt;0.01) in uptake of this nanoemulsion by dermal keratinocytes and fibroblasts and deeper penetration into the skin layers as compared to topical application of the antibiotic and/or antimicrobial alone. Although, this nanoformulation is specific to the treatment of Rosacea, this nano-therapeutic approach can be applied to other skin disorders.</jats:p