Novel combinations of Post-Translational Modification (PTM) neo-epitopes provide tissue-specific biochemical markers—are they the cause or the consequence of the disease?

Circulating Citrullinated Vimentin Fragments Reflect Disease Burden in Ankylosing Spondylitis and Have Prognostic Capacity for Radiographic Progression

“…These important findings highlight the notion that posttranslational modifications are becoming increasingly important for the understanding of the pathogenesis of disease, and that some of these modifications may reflect both the course as well as the consequence of disease (2). Most importantly, they emphasize that advanced clinical chemistry investigations should focus on protein fingerprinting technologies directed at proteins known to be relevant to disease, rather than just on measurement of proteins in their healthy conformation (1).…”

“…The consequence of this remodeling process in connective tissue is the release of a range of degradation products of extracellular and intracellular proteins generated by the proteases expressed locally in the pathologically affected area. Such products constitute fingerprint changes to joint tissue and can provide information about the pathogenesis of disease and serve as target biomarkers (1,2). An example of such a protein fingerprint biomarker is C-telopeptide of type I collagen, which is a marker of bone resorption measured by the release of crosslinked and cathepsin K-generated type I collagen C-terminal telopeptide (3)(4)(5).…”

Association of C-reactive protein positivity among groups of patients with knee osteoarthritis in Erbil

“…Here it is gradually degraded by the increased level of proteolytical enzymes and released as fragments into the circulation. 9 Although the role of inflammation in osteoarthritis has been unclear for a long time and regard as noninflammatory arthritis, significant progress has been made in more recent years, and studies also show that there are ongoing inflammation and synovitis that result in permanent joint damage. 10 Given this greater appreciation for synovitis in patients with OA, inflammation has now been strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of OA.…”

Sensing parasites: Proteomic and advanced bio-detection alternatives

“…This highlights the importance of comparative surfome analysis to increase the chance to find specific targets in parasites, leading to differential surface markers useful to avoid potential misdiagnosis like for example of Chagas' disease [17]. In addition, the potential detection of fine post-translational modifications creating neo-epitopes during specific parasitic disease pathogenesis could lead to monitor disease activity, like in many human diseases [19].…”