Biomarkers for Protein Characterisation
A biomarker is a substance used as an indicator of a biologic state, and that is measured and evaluated as an indicator of normal or disease state. Serum has been used for decades as a source of biomarkers to give clues to the health of an individual. Proteins are vital parts of living organisms, as they are the main components of the physiological metabolic pathways of cells. By applying advanced proteomics-based separation and identification approaches to the investigation of the serum proteome, scientists have dramatically increased the number of proteins characterised in human serum.
The systematic exploration of the serum proteome is driven by hopes that many of the identified proteins can be used for diagnostic purposes. Using an array of protein biomarkers, it should also become possible to monitor therapy, categorise patients who will respond to particular treatment regimes and identify novel protein-based drug targets. The proteomics group at NICB is investigating serum biomarkers for lung, colorectal, pancreatic and breast carcinoma, and for ocular melanomas and multiple myeloma.
Contact
Martin Clynes (martin.clynes@dcu.ie)
Meet our Cancer Research group
Publications
- Dowling P, Hughes DJ, Larkin AM, Meiller J, Henry M, Meleady P, Lynch V, Pardini B, Naccarati A, Levy M, Vodicka P, Neary P, Clynes M (2014) Elevated levels of 14-3-3 proteins, serotonin, gamma enolase and pyruvate kinase identified in clinical samples from patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Clin Chim Acta 441: 133-141.
- Dowling P, Pollard D, Larkin A, Henry M, Meleady P, Gately K, O'Byrne K, Barr MP, Lynch V, Ballot J, Crown J, Moriarty M, O'Brien E, Morgan R, Clynes M (2014) Abnormal levels of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A2B1 (hnRNPA2B1) in tumour tissue and blood samples from patients diagnosed with lung cancer. Mol. Biosyst 11: 743-752.
- Dowling P, Clarke C, Hennessy K, Torralbo-Lopez B, Ballot J, Crown J, Kiernan I, O'Byrne KJ, Kennedy MJ, Lynch V, Clynes M. (2011) Analysis of acute-phase proteins, AHSG, C3, CLI, HP and SAA, reveals distinctive expression patterns associated with breast, colorectal and lung cancer. Int J Cancer. 2011 Sep 27. doi: 10.1002/ijc.26462. [Epub ahead of print]
- Dowling P, Meleady P, Henry M, Clynes M, (2010) Recent Advances in Clinical Proteomics using Mass Spectrometry. Bioanalysis 2 1610-1615
- Dowling P, Wormald R, Meleady P, Henry M, Curran A, Clynes M. (2008) Analysis of the saliva proteome from patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma reveals differences in abundance levels of proteins associated with tumour progression and metastasis. Journal of Proteomics, 2008 Jul 21;71(2):168-75.
