Ricerca di biomarcatori proteici per il carcinoma a cellule renali e la nefropatia diabetica in fluidi biologici mediante spettrometria di massa

The research project is focused on the evaluation of proteome in biological fluids from patients with renal cell carcinoma and diabetic nephropathy by a ClinProt-MALDI-TOF approach. Currently there aren’t specific biomarkers for an earlier diagnosis of RCC and nephropathic development especially in T1D patients. The most promising MS-based screening methods for the discovery of multiple biomarkers in body fluids is ClinProt, which couple a prefractionation chromatographic step with MS analysis. Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC) is the most common kidney malignancy and its incidence is increasing worldwide each year. Since patients have a poor prognosis due to a lack of sensitivity to radio- and chemio-therapies biomarkers for early diagnosis and monitoring the state of disease are urgently needed. Concerning the diabetic nephropathy, it is the major vascular complication of type 1 diabetes and it is the leading cause of the end stage renal disease worldwide. The earliest diagnostic sign for the presence of diabetic renal damage is an increase in the albumin excretion rate, but unfortunately it isn’t an accurate predictor. So the study was aimed to perform profiling studies on urine/serum of healthy subjects and patients (RCC and diabetics with nephropathy) linking solid phase extraction technique using functionalized magnetic beads to MS analysis. In addition the proteome investigation was extended on patients with a non-RCC tumor allowing to distinguish different renal diseases. These results provided basis for the development of clinically valid proteins/peptides patterns for RCC and diabetic nephropathy diagnosis, improving the knowledge of the pathological processes in disease development.