Re-Analysis of Published Datasets in Search of Novel Urogenital Diseases Biomarkers

Abstract

Background: Exosome research is a current trend in functional proteomics as it provides im-portant data on the pathophysiology and pathogenesis of diseases. The scientific outputs re-garding these topics often only approach disease-protein/peptide/exosome or mecha-nism-protein/peptide/exosome association. Approaching all three aspects could be the key to a better understanding of the pathophysiology and uncovering novel biomarkers for urogenital diseases. The focus of this work is to study exosome datasets to understand the possible role of underlying proteins in disease manifestation. We also attempt to link 4 different diseases that affect renal functions and are genetically inherited. Methods: For this purpose, the existing literature is consulted to understand the importance of exosomes in disease prediction, diagnosis and therapy. Available biotechnological methods of exosome analysis and the tools of proteomic analysis, data mining and visualization are dis-cussed. The database PRIDE is selected to query the information of several datasets related to urinary exosome analysis. Results: We have obtained a list of 19 proteins/genes involved in the mentioned diseases. On this list, we found a proteomic fingerprint consisting of Rab-7a, PDCD6, and CDC42, among others, and we are exploring their biological significance and underlying processes. Conclusion: APOA1, CD59, CD9, IGHG1, RAB7A, RAP1A, SEMG1 and SEMG2 are common in four urogenital diseases, and are involved in interactions with podosomes and endosomes, re-modeling of chylomicrons, regulation of interleukin production, regulation of endopeptidase activity, and establishment of apical/basal polarity of epithelial cells.