Abstract
Background: When a protein has a useful and unique function, the selective pressures of evolution conserve the DNA sequences encoding such proteins; the conservation of these domains may have pragmatic use in better understanding viral and spontaneous carcinogenesis in eukaryotic cells. The unique functions of ribosomal protein (RP) Metallopanstimulin-1 (MPS-1/RPS27), and a few other RPs, in growth regulation and carcinogenesis (chemical, viral, radiation and chemotherapy-induced) could be used for the early detection of cancer using serum, or in follow-up therapy. Materials and Methods: The MPS-1 serum test was performed in the serum of patients by radioimmunoassay using specific antibodies directed against the N-terminus (amino acids 2 to 17; synthetic peptide) of MPS-1 according to previously described procedures (Fernandez-Pol, JA, 1994). Results: The data presented here indicate that antibodies to MPS-1 detect a zinc finger protein of Mr 9.8 kDa identified by MS and sequencing as MPS-1 in patients having various types of cancer. MPS-1 increases with aggressivity of cancer, irrespective of the cancer types studied in this work. In healthy individuals of the same age range, the levels of MPS-1 increase slowly and progressively at less than 1% per year as the patients age. Conclusion: The MPS-1 test may be useful as an aid in: i) early detection of a wide variety of cancer types; and ii) the prognosis and management of cancer patients by following the changes in the concentrations of MPS-1 in serum. Moreover, the results suggest that the combined use of MPS-1 with physical methods of cancer detection such as positron emission tomography, computer assisted tomography, or magnetic resonance imaging techniques may significantly improve the chances of identifying an active tumor in early stages by serodiagnosis of MPS-1. In patients having other diseases (such as rheumatoid arthritis, which manifests as a proliferative disease) or in healthy individuals having no evidence of disease, the identification of as yet unrecognized active oncogenesis, may be significantly improved by using MPS-1. The data on genome context analysis indicates that the presence of MPS-1 in the blood is an indicator of oncogenesis. Thus, the test may be used to help prolong the life of the patients, if the cancer is detected early.
- Metallopanstimulin-1
- RPMPS-1/RPS27
- p53
- DNA repair protein
- RP
- ribosomal protein
- breast cancer detection
- zinc finger proteins
- oncogenesis
- tumor marker
- growth factors
- Received May 7, 2012.
- Revision received June 30, 2012.
- Accepted July 2, 2012.
- Copyright© 2012 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved