{"167921":{"#nid":"167921","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Blood Testing Predicts Level of Enzymes that Facilitate Disease Progression","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPredicting how atherosclerosis, osteoporosis or cancer will progress or respond to drugs in individual patients is difficult. In a new study, researchers took another step toward that goal by developing a technique able to predict from a blood sample the amount of cathepsins\u2014protein-degrading enzymes known to accelerate these diseases\u2014a specific person would produce.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis patient-specific information may be helpful in developing personalized approaches to treat these tissue-destructive diseases.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe measured significant variability in the amount of cathepsins produced by blood samples we collected from healthy individuals, which may indicate that a one-size-fits-all approach of administering cathepsin inhibitors may not be the best strategy for all patients with these conditions,\u201d said Manu Platt, an assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe study was published online on Oct. 19, 2012 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EIntegrative Biology\u003C\/em\u003E. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, Georgia Cancer Coalition, Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and the Emory\/Georgia Tech Regenerative Engineering and Medicine Center.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPlatt and graduate student Keon-Young Park collected blood samples from 14 healthy individuals, removed white blood cells called monocytes from the samples and stimulated those cells with certain molecules so that they would become macrophages or osteoclasts in the laboratory. By doing this, the researchers recreated what happens in the body\u2014monocytes receive these cues from damaged tissue, leave the blood, and become macrophages or osteoclasts, which are known to contribute to tissue changes that occur in atherosclerosis, cancer and osteoporosis.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThen the researchers developed a model that used patient-varying kinase signals collected from the macrophages or osteoclasts to predict patient-specific activity of four cathepsins: K, L, S and V. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cKinases are enzymes that integrate stimuli from different soluble, cellular and physical cues to generate specific cellular responses,\u201d explained Platt, who is also a Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scholar. \u201cBy using a systems biology approach to link cell differentiation cues and responses through integration of signals at the kinase level, we were able to mathematically predict relative amounts of cathepsin activity and distinguish which blood donors exhibited greater cathepsin activity compared to others.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPredictability for all cathepsins ranged from 90 to 95 percent for both macrophages and osteoclasts, despite a range in the level of each cathepsin among the blood samples tested.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe were pleased with the results because our model achieved very high predictability from a simple blood draw and overcame the challenge of incorporating the complex, unknown cues from individual patients\u2019 unique genetic and biochemical backgrounds,\u201d said Platt.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to Platt, the next step will be to assess the model\u2019s ability to predict cathepsin activity using blood samples from individuals with the diseases of interest: atherosclerosis, osteoporosis or cancer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur ultimate goal is to create an assay that will inform a clinician whether an individual\u2019s case of cancer or other tissue-destructive disease will be very aggressive from the moment that individual is diagnosed, which will enable the clinician to develop and begin the best personalized treatment plan immediately,\u201d added Platt.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWeiwei A. Li, who received her bachelor\u2019s degree from the Coulter Department in 2010, also contributed to this study.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EResearch reported in this publication was supported in part by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under award number UL1TR000454 and the Office of the Director of the NIH under award number 1DP2OD007433. The content is solely the responsibility of the principal investigators and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Park, Keon-Young et al., \u201cPatient specific proteolytic activity of monocyte-derived macrophages and osteoclasts predicted with temporal kinase activation states during differentiation,\u201d Integrative Biology (2012): \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1039\/C2IB20197F\u0022 title=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1039\/C2IB20197F\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1039\/C2IB20197F\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; USA\u0026nbsp; 30332-0177\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Abby Robinson\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers are developing a technique for predicting from a simple blood sample the amount of cathepsins\u2014protein-degrading enzymes known to accelerate certain diseases\u2014a specific person would produce. This patient-specific information may be helpful in developing personalized approaches to treat these tissue-destructive diseases.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers are developing a technique for predicting the amount of protein-degrading enzymes a specific person would produce."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2012-11-01 14:12:05","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:06","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-11-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-11-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"167891":{"id":"167891","type":"image","title":"Cathepsin prediction","body":null,"created":"1449178968","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:42:48","changed":"1475894806","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:46","alt":"Cathepsin prediction","file":{"fid":"195633","name":"cathepsin-prediction41.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cathepsin-prediction41_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cathepsin-prediction41_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1287075,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/cathepsin-prediction41_0.jpg?itok=8Dh7au-_"}},"167901":{"id":"167901","type":"image","title":"Cathepsin prediction2","body":null,"created":"1449178968","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:42:48","changed":"1475894806","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:46","alt":"Cathepsin prediction2","file":{"fid":"195634","name":"cathepsin-prediction96.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cathepsin-prediction96_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cathepsin-prediction96_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1113462,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/cathepsin-prediction96_0.jpg?itok=P0KeURw0"}}},"media_ids":["167891","167901"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7270","name":"atherosclerosis"},{"id":"385","name":"cancer"},{"id":"40431","name":"cathepsin"},{"id":"11533","name":"Department of Biomedical Engineering"},{"id":"7735","name":"enzyme"},{"id":"48841","name":"kinase"},{"id":"10832","name":"Manu Platt"},{"id":"48851","name":"osteopororis"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}