Open AccessPlasma levels of OLFM 4 in normals and patients with gastrointestinal cancer
Author(s) -
Clemmensen Stine N.,
Glenthøj Anders J.,
Heebøll Sara,
Nielsen Hans Jørgen,
Koch Claus,
Borregaard Niels
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of cellular and molecular medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.44
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1582-4934
pISSN - 1582-1838
DOI - 10.1111/jcmm.12679
Subject(s) - immunohistochemistry , biomarker , cancer , monoclonal antibody , gastrointestinal cancer , colorectal cancer , glycoprotein , antibody , cancer research , carcinoma , medicine , pathology , biology , immunology , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry
Olfactomedin 4 ( OLFM 4) is a secreted glycoprotein predominantly expressed in bone marrow and gastrointestinal tissues. Aberrant expression of OLFM 4 has been shown in several cancers. However, the clinical significance hereof is currently controversial. OLFM 4 has been proposed as a candidate biomarker of gastrointestinal cancers. To address this, we developed monoclonal antibodies against synthetic peptides representing various segments of OLFM 4. We examined expression of OLFM 4 in epithelial cells by immunohistochemistry and found that OLFM 4 is highly expressed in proliferating benign epithelial cells and in some carcinoma cells. We developed an Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay for OLFM 4 and investigated whether plasma levels of OLFM 4 reflect colorectal malignancies, but were unable to see any such association. Instead, we observed two populations of individuals with respect to OLFM 4 levels in plasma, the majority with OLFM 4 in plasma between 0 and 0.1 μg/ml, mean 0.028 μg/ml while 10% of both normals and patients with cancers had OLFM 4 between 4 and 60 μg/ml, mean 15 μg/ml. The levels were constant over time. The background for this high plasma level is not known, but must be taken into account if OLFM 4 is used as biomarker for GI cancers.