Circulating proteolytic signatures of chemotherapy-induced cell death in humans discovered by N-terminal labeling.

Abstract

It is known that many chemotherapeutics induce cellular apoptosis over hours to days. During apoptosis, numerous cellular proteases are activated, most canonically the caspases. We speculated that detection of proteolytic fragments released from apoptotic cells into the peripheral blood may serve as a unique indicator of chemotherapy-induced cell death. Here we used an enzymatic labeling process to positively enrich free peptide α-amines in the plasma of hematologic malignancy patients soon after beginning treatment. This N-terminomic approach largely avoids interference by high-abundance proteins that complicate traditional plasma proteomic analyses. Significantly, by mass spectrometry methods, we found strong biological signatures of apoptosis directly in the postchemotherapy plasma, including numerous caspase-cleaved peptides as well as relevant peptides from apoptotic and cell-stress proteins second mitochondria-derived activator of caspases, HtrA serine peptidase 2, and activating transcription factor 6. We also treated hematologic cancer cell lines with clinically relevant chemotherapeutics and monitored proteolytic fragments released into the media. Remarkably, many of these peptides coincided with those found in patient samples. Overall, we identified 153 proteolytic peptides in postchemotherapy patient plasma as potential indicators of cellular apoptosis. Through targeted quantitative proteomics, we verified that many of these peptides were indeed increased post- vs. prechemotherapy in additional patients. Our findings reveal that numerous proteolytic fragments are released from dying tumor cells. Monitoring posttreatment proteolysis may lead to a novel class of inexpensive, rapid biomarkers of cell death.

• Authors: Arun P Wiita, Gerald W Hsu, Chuanyi M Lu, Jonathan H Esensten, James A Wells
• Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A) Vol. 111 Issue 21 Pg. 7594-9 (May 27 2014) ISSN: 1091-6490 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 24821784 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Activating Transcription Factor 6
• Biomarkers, Tumor
• Mitochondrial Proteins
• Peptide Fragments
• Serine Endopeptidases
• HTRA2 protein, human
• High-Temperature Requirement A Serine Peptidase 2

Topics

• Activating Transcription Factor 6 (blood)
• Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols (pharmacology)
• Apoptosis (drug effects)
• Biomarkers, Tumor (blood)
• Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
• High-Temperature Requirement A Serine Peptidase 2
• Humans
• Mass Spectrometry
• Mitochondrial Proteins (blood)
• Peptide Fragments (blood)
• Proteolysis (drug effects)
• Serine Endopeptidases (blood)