Establishing age-group specific reference intervals of human salivary proteome and its preliminary application for epilepsy diagnosis.

Salivary proteins serve multifaceted roles in maintaining oral health and hold significant potential for diagnosing and monitoring diseases due to the non-invasive nature of saliva sampling. However, the clinical utility of current saliva biomarker studies is limited by the lack of reference intervals (RIs) to correctly interpret the testing result. Here, we developed a rapid and robust saliva proteome profiling workflow, obtaining coverage of >1,200 proteins from a 50-µL unstimulated salivary flow with 30 min gradients.

Proteomic Stratification of Prognosis and Treatment Options for Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a highly malignant and heterogeneous cancer with limited therapeutic options and prognosis prediction models. Here, we analyzed formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples of surgical resections by proteomic profiling, and stratified SCLC into three proteomic subtypes (S-I, S-II, and S-III) with distinct clinical outcomes and chemotherapy responses. The proteomic subtyping was an independent prognostic factor and performed better than current tumor-node-metastasis or Veterans Administration Lung Study Group staging methods.

Itaconate alleviates diet-induced obesity via activation of brown adipocyte thermogenesis.

Despite medical advances, there remains an unmet need for better treatment of obesity. Itaconate, a product of the decarboxylation of the tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediate cis-aconitate, plays a regulatory role in both metabolism and immunity. Here, we show that itaconate, as an endogenous compound, counteracts high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced obesity through leptin-independent mechanisms in three mouse models.

Dynamic Proteomic Changes in Tumor and Immune Organs Reveal Systemic Immune Response to Tumor Development.

In orthotopic mouse tumor models, tumor progression is a complex process, involving interactions among tumor cells, host cell-derived stromal cells, and immune cells. Much attention has been focused on the tumor and its tumor microenvironment, while the host's macroenvironment including immune organs in response to tumorigenesis is poorly understood. Here, we report a temporal proteomic analysis on a subcutaneous tumor and three immune organs (LN, MLN, and spleen) collected on Days 0, 3, 7, 10, 14, and 21 after inoculation of mouse forestomach cancer cells in a syngeneic mouse model.

Expanding individualized therapeutic options via genoproteomics.

Clinical next-generation sequencing (NGS) tests have enabled treatment recommendations for cancer patients with driver gene mutations. Targeted therapy options for patients without driver gene mutations are currently unavailable. Herein, we performed NGS and proteomics tests on 169 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples of non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC, 65), colorectal cancers (CRC, 61), thyroid carcinomas (THCA, 14), gastric cancers (GC, 2), gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST, 11), and malignant melanomas (MM, 6).

Multilevel proteomic analyses reveal molecular diversity between diffuse-type and intestinal-type gastric cancer.

Diffuse-type gastric cancer (DGC) and intestinal-type gastric cancer (IGC) are the major histological types of gastric cancer (GC). The molecular mechanism underlying DGC and IGC differences are poorly understood. In this research, we carry out multilevel proteomic analyses, including proteome, phospho-proteome, and transcription factor (TF) activity profiles, of 196 cases covering DGC and IGC in Chinese patients.

Liver cancer heterogeneity modeled by in situ genome editing of hepatocytes.

Mechanistic study and precision treatment of primary liver cancer (PLC) are hindered by marked heterogeneity, which is challenging to recapitulate in any given liver cancer mouse model. Here, we report the generation of 25 mouse models of PLC by in situ genome editing of hepatocytes recapitulating 25 single or combinations of human cancer driver genes. These mouse tumors represent major histopathological types of human PLCs and could be divided into three human-matched molecular subtypes based on transcriptomic and proteomic profiles.

A urinary proteomic landscape of COVID-19 progression identifies signaling pathways and therapeutic options.

Signaling pathway alterations in COVID-19 of living humans as well as therapeutic targets of the host proteins are not clear. We analyzed 317 urine proteomes, including 86 COVID-19, 55 pneumonia and 176 healthy controls, and identified specific RNA virus detector protein DDX58/RIG-I only in COVID-19 samples. Comparison of the COVID-19 urinary proteomes with controls revealed major pathway alterations in immunity, metabolism and protein localization.

Proteomic profiling identifies signatures associated with progression of precancerous gastric lesions and risk of early gastric cancer.

Background: Molecular features underlining the multistage progression of gastric lesions and development of early gastric cancer (GC) are poorly understood, restricting the ability to GC prevention and management.

Methods: We portrayed proteomic landscape and explored proteomic signatures associated with progression of gastric lesions and risk of early GC. Tissue proteomic profiling was conducted for a total of 324 subjects.

Proteomics provides individualized options of precision medicine for patients with gastric cancer.

While precision medicine driven by genome sequencing has revolutionized cancer care, such as lung cancer, its impact on gastric cancer (GC) has been minimal. GC patients are routinely treated with chemotherapy, but only a fraction of them receive the clinical benefit. There is an urgent need to develop biomarkers or algorithms to select chemo-sensitive patients or apply targeted therapy.