Hypoxia integration in the serological proteome analysis unmasks tumor antigens and fosters the identification of anti-phospho-eEF2 antibodies as potential cancer biomarkers

PLoS One. 2013 Oct 10;8(10):e76508. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0076508. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

The expression by tumor cells of proteins with aberrant structure, expression or distribution accounts for the development of a humoral immune response. Autoantibodies (aAb) directed against tumor-associated antigens (TAA) may thus be particularly relevant for early detection of cancer. Serological proteome analysis (SERPA) aims to identify such circulating aAb through the immunoblotting of 2D-separated tumor cell proteins with cancer patient serum and the consecutive MS identification of proteins in reactive spots. This method has the advantage to use post-translationally modified proteins as a source of potential TAA. Here, we applied this strategy by using colorectal tumor cells pre-exposed to hypoxia in order to promote the expression of a pattern of TAA more likely to represent in vivo conditions. We used two human HCT116 and HT29 colorectal cancer cell lines exposed for 48 hours to 1% O2. Spots positive after immunoblotting of 2D-separated lysates of hypoxic cells with the sera of tumor-bearing mice, were collected and analysed by MS for protein identification. Among the hypoxia-specific immunogenic proteins, we identified a phosphorylated form of eukaryotic translation elongation factor 2 (phospho-Thr56 eEF2). We confirmed the increased phosphorylation of this protein in hypoxic colorectal tumor cells as well as in mouse tumors. Using a specific immunoassay, we could detect the presence of corresponding anti-phospho-Thr56 eEF2 aAb in the serum of tumor-bearing mice (vs healthy mice). We further documented that the detection of these aAb preceded the detection of a palpable tumor mass in mice and validated the presence of anti-phospho-Thr56 eEF2 aAb in the serum of patients with adenomatous polyps and colorectal carcinoma. In conclusion, this study validates a phosphorylated form of eEF2 as a new TAA and more generally, provides evidence that integrating hypoxia upstream of SERPA offers a more relevant repertoire of TAA able to unmask the presence of circulating aAb.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Antigens, Neoplasm / blood*
  • Antigens, Neoplasm / immunology
  • Autoantibodies / blood*
  • Autoantibodies / immunology
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / blood
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / chemistry
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / immunology*
  • Cell Hypoxia
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Colorectal Neoplasms / blood
  • Colorectal Neoplasms / immunology*
  • Colorectal Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Colorectal Neoplasms / pathology
  • HCT116 Cells
  • HT29 Cells
  • Humans
  • Immunoassay
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Peptide Elongation Factor 2 / blood
  • Peptide Elongation Factor 2 / chemistry
  • Peptide Elongation Factor 2 / immunology*
  • Peptide Elongation Factor 2 / metabolism
  • Phosphoproteins / blood
  • Phosphoproteins / chemistry
  • Phosphoproteins / immunology*
  • Phosphoproteins / metabolism
  • Phosphorylation
  • Proteomics*
  • Serologic Tests
  • Threonine / metabolism

Substances

  • Antigens, Neoplasm
  • Autoantibodies
  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • Peptide Elongation Factor 2
  • Phosphoproteins
  • Threonine

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (F.R.S.-FNRS), the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique Médicale (FRSM), an Action de Recherche Concertée from the Communauté française de Belgique (ARC 09/14-020), the Interuniversity Attraction Pole (IUAP program P7.03), and the J. Maisin Foundation. M. Grandjean is a FRIA (Fonds pour la formation à la Recherche dans l’Industrie et dans l’Agriculture) Research Fellow. The MS facility of the URBC-NARILIS was supported by the FNRS (Brussels, Belgium). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.