Proteomics-Informed Identification of Luminal Targets For In Situ Diagnosis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic condition resulting in impaired intestinal homeostasis. Current practices for diagnosis of IBD are challenged by invasive, demanding procedures. We hypothesized that proteomics analysis could provide a powerful tool for identifying clinical biomarkers for non-invasive IBD diagnosis. Here, the global intestinal proteomes from commonly used in vitro and in vivo models of IBD were analyzed to identify apical and luminal proteins that can be targeted by orally delivered diagnostic agents. Global proteomics analysis revealed upregulated plasma membrane proteins in intestinal segments of proximal- and distal colon from dextran sulfate sodium-treated mice and also in inflamed human intestinal Caco-2 cells pretreated with pro-inflammatory agents. The upregulated colon proteins in mice were compared to the proteome of the healthy ileum, to ensure targeting of diagnostic agents to the inflamed colon. Promising target proteins for future investigations of non-invasive diagnosis of IBD were found in both systems and included Tgm2/TGM2, Icam1/ICAM1, Ceacam1/CEACAM1, and Anxa1/ANXA1. Ultimately, these findings will guide the selection of appropriate antibodies for surface functionalization of imaging agents aimed to target inflammatory biomarkers in situ.