New insights into autoantibody profiles from immune privileged sites in the eye: a glaucoma study.

Glaucoma is a chronic neurodegenerative disease and one of the leading causes of blindness. Autoantibody based immune processes are assumed to be involved in its pathogenesis. However, it is still unclear to what extent autoantibody patterns found in the eye (aqueous humor) are congruent to systemic autoantibodies (blood). Consistency would underline the specificity of known serum antibody markers for glaucoma. In this study we used antigen microarrays to analyze autoantibody reactivities in sera and corresponding aqueous humor samples of primary open-angle glaucoma patients (N=37) and non-glaucomatous controls (N=31). Compared to control subjects several divergent immunoreactivities were i…

Alterations in the tear proteome of dry eye patients--a matter of the clinical phenotype.

PURPOSE. Previous studies demonstrated alterations in the tear proteome of dry eye patients. The aim of the present study was to analyze tear protein patterns of dry eye patients considering different clinical phenotypes in order to examine their influence on tear film protein composition. METHODS. We applied a surface-enhanced laser desorption/ ionization-time-of-flight (SELDI-TOF)/matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF)/TOF mass spectrometry (MS)‐based strategy to detect/identify candidate biomarkers. Tear samples of 169 patients, enrolled in two independent studies, were analyzed. Patients were subdivided into healthy controls (CTRL: N ¼ 39), aqueous-defici…

Comparison of tear protein levels in breast cancer patients and healthy controls using a de novo proteomic approach

Noninvasive biomarkers are urgently needed for early detection of breast cancer since the risk of recurrence, morbidity and mortality are closely related to disease stage at the time of primary surgery. In the past decade, many proteomics-based approaches were developed that utilize the protein profiling of human body fluids or identification of putative biomarkers to obtain more knowledge on the effects of cancer emergence and progression. Herein, we report on an analysis of proteins in the tear fluid from breast carcinoma patients and healthy women using a de novo proteomic approach and 25 mixed samples from each group. This study included 25 patients with primary invasive breast carcinom…

Proinflammatory Cytokine Profiling of Tears from Dry Eye Patients by Means of Antibody Microarrays

In the pathogenesis of keratoconjunctivitis sicca, immune processes are thought to play an important role. However, the exact details of the pathomechanisms are still unknown. In this study, the expression patterns of proinflammatory cytokines in the tears of patients with different subtypes of dry eye were analyzed.One hundred forty-three subjects subdivided into healthy controls (CTRL, n = 38), patients with aqueous-deficient dry eye (DRYaq, n = 35), patients with changes of the lipid layer (DRYlip, n = 36), and patients with a combination of both (DRYaplip, n = 34) were examined. Expression patterns of proteins (e.g., IL-1β, IL-6, ITNF-α, and IFN-γ) were examined using an advanced antibo…

Author Response: Clinical Considerations in Proinflammatory Cytokine Profiling of Tears from Patients with Dry Eye by Means of Antibody Microarrays

Antibody microarray analysis of the serum proteome in primary breast cancer patients

Noninvasive biomarkers are urgently needed for detecting breast cancer as early as possible since the risk of recurrence, morbidity, and mortality is closely related to disease stage at the time of primary surgery. There are currently no such biomarkers in clinical use as a diagnostic tool. Proteomic analysis of protein expression patterns in body fluids has potential for use in identifying biomarkers of breast cancer. The aim of this study was to compare protein expression levels in the sera of primary breast cancer patients and healthy controls. An antibody microarray tool with 23 antibodies immobilized on nitrocellulose slides was used to determine the levels of acute phase proteins, int…

Upregulation of antibody response to heat shock proteins and tissue antigens in an ocular ischemia model.

PURPOSE. The aim of this study was to characterize the serum antibody reactivities occurring after ocular ischemia reperfusion. The time course of serum antibody responses was examined. METHODS. Wistar rats were exposed to transient ocular ischemia by elevating intraocular pressure to 130 mm Hg for 60 minutes. Axonal damage was evaluated on optic-nerve sections 2 and 4 weeks later. Blood samples collected before and several times after ischemia were used for antibody detection via customized protein microarrays. Different tissue antigens, including heat shock proteins (HSPs) and crystallins, were selected based on previous identification of antibody reactivities in studies on ischemic event…