Socio-demographic factors, housing characteristics, and clinical symptoms associated with falciparum malaria in two rapidly urbanizing areas in the Ashanti region of Ghana.

Background: Malaria has been described as a disease of poverty, affecting the poorest populations typically living in rural areas. As hitherto rural areas transition into semi-urban environments, this study investigated the prevalence of falciparum malaria and associated risk factors in two rapidly urbanizing districts in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

Methods: A cross-sectional, hospital-based study was conducted at Agona and Mankranso Government Hospitals located within the Sekyere South and Ahafo Ano Southwest districts respectively, in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

Accuracy of diagnosis among clinical malaria patients: comparing microscopy, RDT and a highly sensitive quantitative PCR looking at the implications for submicroscopic infections.

Background: The World Health Organization recommends parasitological confirmation of all suspected malaria cases by microscopy or rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) before treatment. These conventional tools are widely used for point-of-care diagnosis in spite of their poor sensitivity at low parasite density. Previous studies in Ghana have compared microscopy and RDT using standard 18S rRNA PCR as reference with varying outcomes.

Rapid quantification of insulin degludec by immunopurification combined with liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry.

Insulin degludec is an ultra-long-acting insulin analogue that is increasingly being used in diabetes due to its favourable efficacy and safety profile. Thus, there is an increasing demand for a reliable and specific analytical method to quantify insulin degludec for research, pharmaceutical industry and clinical applications. We developed and validated an automated, high-throughput method for quantification of insulin degludec in human blood samples across the expected clinical range combining immunopurification with high-resolution mass spectrometry.

Development and validation of a targeted affinity-enrichment and LC-MS/MS proteomics approach for the therapeutic monitoring of adalimumab.

Background: The anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), such as adalimumab, are widely used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel diseases, and other auto-immune diseases. The administration of adalimumab can elicit the immune responses from some patients, resulting in the formation of anti-drug antibodies (ADAbs). The ADAbs can diminish the therapeutic effects of adalimumab by neutralizing the TNFα binding site or increasing its clearance from circulation.

Quiescin sulfhydryl oxidase 1 promotes invasion of pancreatic tumor cells mediated by matrix metalloproteinases.

Quiescin sulfhydryl oxidase 1 (QSOX1) oxidizes sulfhydryl groups to form disulfide bonds in proteins. We previously mapped a peptide in plasma from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) patients back to an overexpressed QSOX1 parent protein. In addition to overexpression in pancreatic cancer cell lines, 29 of 37 patients diagnosed with PDA expressed QSOX1 protein in tumor cells, but QSOX1 was not detected in normal adjacent tissues or in a transformed, but nontumorigenic cell line.

CTL recognition of a novel HLA-A*0201-binding peptide derived from glioblastoma multiforme tumor cells.

Genetic instability of tumor cells can result in translation of proteins that are out of frame, resulting in expression of neopeptides. These neopeptides are not self-proteins and therefore should be immunogenic. By eluting peptides from human glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tumor cell surfaces and subjecting them to tandem mass spectrometry, we identified a novel peptide (KLWGLTPKVTPS) corresponding to a frameshift in the 3' beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 7 (HSD3B7) gene.

Structure of the preamyloid dimer of beta-2-microglobulin from covalent labeling and mass spectrometry.

Beta-2-microglobulin (beta2m) self-associates into fibrillar amyloid deposits in the musculoskeletal system of patients undergoing hemodialysis treatment. Previous studies have shown that stoichiometric amounts of Cu(II) at near physiological conditions can cause beta2m to organize into native-like dimers prior to forming amyloid fibrils. Here, we report the results from selective covalent labeling reactions combined with mass spectrometry that provide insight into the amino acid residues that mediate dimer formation in the wild-type protein.

Analysis of the plasma peptidome from pancreas cancer patients connects a peptide in plasma to overexpression of the parent protein in tumors.

Blood circulates through nearly every organ including tumors. Therefore, plasma is a logical source to search for tumor-derived proteins and peptides. The challenge with plasma is that it is a complex bodily fluid composed of high concentrations of normal host proteins that obscure identification of tumor-derived molecules.

Proteomic identification of an MHC-binding peptidome from pancreas and breast cancer cell lines.

Peptides bound to cell surface MHC class I molecules allow the immune system to recognize intracellular pathogens and tumor-derived peptides. Our goal was to learn what the immune system "sees" on the surfaces of tumor cells by acid-eluting peptides from HLA molecules for extended time periods. We determined how long peptides would continue to elute over time from a pancreatic tumor cell line, Panc-1, and a breast cancer cell line, MCF-7, at pH 3.

Cu(II) organizes beta-2-microglobulin oligomers but is released upon amyloid formation.

beta-2-Microglobulin (beta2m) is deposited as amyloid fibrils in the bones and joints of patients undergoing long-term dialysis treatment as a result of kidney failure. Previous work has shown that biologically relevant amounts of Cu(II) can cause beta2m to be converted to amyloid fibrils under physiological conditions in vitro. In this work, dynamic light scattering, mass spectrometry, and size-exclusion chromatography are used to characterize the role that Cu plays in the formation of oligomeric intermediates that precede fibril formation.