Urinary glycan markers for disease

• Published in: Biochemical Society transactions Vol. 39; no. 1; p. 393
• Main Authors: Alonzi, Dominic S, Su, Ying-Hsiu, Butters, Terry D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01.02.2011
• Subjects: Biomarkers - chemistry; Biomarkers - urine; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - diagnosis; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - pathology; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - urine; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid - methods; Disease Progression; Glycosylation; Humans; Liver Neoplasms - diagnosis; Liver Neoplasms - pathology; Liver Neoplasms - urine; Polysaccharides - chemistry; Polysaccharides - urine
• ISSN: 1470-8752
• DOI: 10.1042/bst0390393

Robust assays for the isolation and characterization of urinary FOS (free oligosaccharides) have been developed to screen patients for altered protein and/or lipid glycosylation. A FOS analysis can therefore identify potential biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma, since variations in glycosylation as a result of tumorigenecity should be detectable in the FOS of patients. HCC (hepatocellular carcinoma) accounts for 80-90% of all liver cancers. It occurs more often in men than women and occurs mostly in people 50-60 years old. The disease is more common in parts of Africa and Asia than in North or South America and Europe. Using a combination of solid-phase extraction techniques and affinity chromatography, followed by separation of urinary FOS by NP (normal phase)-HPLC and HIAX (hydrophilic interaction and anion-exchange)-HPLC, more than 200 different species have been identified in patient samples. The high incidence of small sialylated oligosaccharides in HCC patients suggests that pro-inflammatory markers may be detected as early indicators of disease progression. In addition, the methods developed here to isolate and analyse excreted glycoprotein- and glycosphingolipid-bound oligosaccharides have been used to characterize changes in metabolic processes that underlie a number of human genetic disorders. The ability to predict disease status in microlitre amounts of readily available non-invasive urine samples indicates that rapid methods for screening can be developed.