Screening of Auto-antigens as Diagnostic Biomarkers in Sera of Patients with Cholangiocarcinoma by SERPA Technique

Cholangiocarcinoma (CC) is one of the main crucial hepatic malignancies; hence CC is the prime cause for cancer death occurred due to bile duct cancer. A wide range of studies showed that the expression of intracellular proteins associated with the progression of tumor process might be a response of autoantibody. Unlike intracellular components, autoantibodies can appear in cancer patients long before clinical appearance of the cancer. Apparently, CC autoantibodies can appear at any point in the transformation of chronic liver disease; those autoantibodies may not apparent in erstwhile non-transformation phases, lead to a significant increase in the quantity of patients with CC positive for the presence of autoantibodies. The aim of present study was to detect the cellular proteins involved in bile duct cancer process by the use of immunoblotting technique and to predict the future biomarkers of CC. SERPA technique was applied to detect the differentially expressed proteins from nine CC patients’ sera adopting standard protocol. 2-D maps revealed a number of protein spots after gels staining. Proteins of interest were observed between pH 5 and pH8 having molecular mass range between 20 and 90 kDa. Comparative analysis of blots indicated four common immunoreactive spots in CCSW1 cell lines. These cancer specific proteins might be used for CC diagnosis at early stage.