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Inhibition of Circulating Dipeptidyl Peptidase 4 Activity in Patients with Metastatic Prostate Cancer

Nazarian, Arpi ; Lawlor, Kevin ; Yi, San San ; Philip, John ; Ghosh, Mousumi ; Yaneva, Mariana ; Villanueva, Josep ; Saghatelian, Alan ; Assel, Melissa and Vickers, Andrew J. , et al. (2014) In Molecular & Cellular Proteomics 13(11). p.3082-3096
Abstract
Cancer is responsible for many deaths and is a major source of healthcare expenditures. The identification of new, non-invasive biomarkers might allow improvement of the direct diagnostic or prognostic ability of already available tools. Here, we took the innovative approach of interrogating the activity of exopeptidases in the serum of cancer patients with the aim of establishing a distinction based on enzymatic function, instead of simple protein levels, as a means to biomarker discovery. We first analyzed two well-characterized mouse models of prostate cancer, each with a distinct genetic lesion, and established that broad exopeptidase and targeted aminopeptidase activity tests reveal proteolytic changes associated with tumor... (More)
Cancer is responsible for many deaths and is a major source of healthcare expenditures. The identification of new, non-invasive biomarkers might allow improvement of the direct diagnostic or prognostic ability of already available tools. Here, we took the innovative approach of interrogating the activity of exopeptidases in the serum of cancer patients with the aim of establishing a distinction based on enzymatic function, instead of simple protein levels, as a means to biomarker discovery. We first analyzed two well-characterized mouse models of prostate cancer, each with a distinct genetic lesion, and established that broad exopeptidase and targeted aminopeptidase activity tests reveal proteolytic changes associated with tumor development. We also describe new peptide-based freeze-frame reagents uniquely suited to probe the altered balance of selected aminopeptidases, as opposed to the full array of exopeptidases, and/or their modulators in patient serum or plasma. One particular proteolytic activity was impaired in animals with aggressive disease relative to cancer-free littermates. We identified the protease in question as dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4) by analyzing selected knockout mice and evaluating the effect of specific inhibitors. DPP4 activity was also reduced in the sera of patients with metastatic prostate cancer relative to patients with localized disease or healthy controls. However, no significant differences in DPP4 serum levels were observed, which established the loss of activity as the result of impaired enzymatic function. Biochemical analysis indicated that reduced activity was the result not of post-translational modifications or allosteric changes, but instead of a low-molecular-weight inhibitor. After we adjusted for age and total prostate-specific antigen, reduced DPP4 activity remained a significant predictor of cancer status. The results of this proof-of-principle study suggest that DPP4 activity might be a potential blood-based indicator of the presence of metastatic cancer of prostatic origin, either by itself or, more likely, as a means to improve the sensitivity and specificity of existing markers. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Molecular & Cellular Proteomics
volume
13
issue
11
pages
3082 - 3096
publisher
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
external identifiers
  • wos:000344930500022
  • scopus:84909600448
  • pmid:25056937
ISSN
1535-9484
DOI
10.1074/mcp.M114.038836
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4bacc912-41d5-4b5a-8bf5-28fce4e1ba74 (old id 4865361)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:32:18
date last changed
2022-03-27 17:17:14
@article{4bacc912-41d5-4b5a-8bf5-28fce4e1ba74,
  abstract     = {{Cancer is responsible for many deaths and is a major source of healthcare expenditures. The identification of new, non-invasive biomarkers might allow improvement of the direct diagnostic or prognostic ability of already available tools. Here, we took the innovative approach of interrogating the activity of exopeptidases in the serum of cancer patients with the aim of establishing a distinction based on enzymatic function, instead of simple protein levels, as a means to biomarker discovery. We first analyzed two well-characterized mouse models of prostate cancer, each with a distinct genetic lesion, and established that broad exopeptidase and targeted aminopeptidase activity tests reveal proteolytic changes associated with tumor development. We also describe new peptide-based freeze-frame reagents uniquely suited to probe the altered balance of selected aminopeptidases, as opposed to the full array of exopeptidases, and/or their modulators in patient serum or plasma. One particular proteolytic activity was impaired in animals with aggressive disease relative to cancer-free littermates. We identified the protease in question as dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4) by analyzing selected knockout mice and evaluating the effect of specific inhibitors. DPP4 activity was also reduced in the sera of patients with metastatic prostate cancer relative to patients with localized disease or healthy controls. However, no significant differences in DPP4 serum levels were observed, which established the loss of activity as the result of impaired enzymatic function. Biochemical analysis indicated that reduced activity was the result not of post-translational modifications or allosteric changes, but instead of a low-molecular-weight inhibitor. After we adjusted for age and total prostate-specific antigen, reduced DPP4 activity remained a significant predictor of cancer status. The results of this proof-of-principle study suggest that DPP4 activity might be a potential blood-based indicator of the presence of metastatic cancer of prostatic origin, either by itself or, more likely, as a means to improve the sensitivity and specificity of existing markers.}},
  author       = {{Nazarian, Arpi and Lawlor, Kevin and Yi, San San and Philip, John and Ghosh, Mousumi and Yaneva, Mariana and Villanueva, Josep and Saghatelian, Alan and Assel, Melissa and Vickers, Andrew J. and Eastham, James A. and Scher, Howard I. and Carver, Brett S. and Lilja, Hans and Tempst, Paul}},
  issn         = {{1535-9484}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{11}},
  pages        = {{3082--3096}},
  publisher    = {{American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology}},
  series       = {{Molecular & Cellular Proteomics}},
  title        = {{Inhibition of Circulating Dipeptidyl Peptidase 4 Activity in Patients with Metastatic Prostate Cancer}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1074/mcp.M114.038836}},
  doi          = {{10.1074/mcp.M114.038836}},
  volume       = {{13}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}