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Volume10, Issue 12 (Suppl) J Proteomics Bioinform, an open access journal
ISSN: 0974-276X
Page 41
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World Biomarkers & Pharma Biotech 2017
December 07-09, 2017
December 07-09, 2017 | Madrid, Spain
&
20th International Conference on
PHARMACEUTICAL BIOTECHNOLOGY
9th WORLD BIOMARKERS CONGRESS
JOINT EVENT ON
Prognostic biomarkers of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS): A step forward in the understanding
of the disease
Ana Cristina Calvo
University of Zaragoza, Spain
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease of unknown origin that causes progressive muscle
paralysis and motor neuron death. The need of reliable biomarkers of ALS that can be accurately monitoring along disease
progression is an increasing field of research. In this sense, our main objective is to identify molecular biomarkers as key
elements of the induced neurodegeneration in ALS. Previous studies in our research workgroup analysed the transcriptional
expression of a group of genes, whose expression was found up and down-regulated significantly in a preliminary microarray
study and in muscle biopsy samples from transgenic SOD1G93A mice, the best characterized murine model for the disease.
In this study we identified five genes, Mef2c, Gsr, Col19a1, Calm1 and Snx10 as potential genetic biomarkers of longevity in
this animal model. Next, we translated this study to ALS patient’s samples to validate the potential nature of these biomarkers.
Skeletal muscle biopsies and blood samples from sporadic and familial ALS patients were analyzed by real time PCR and
Western blot to test the expression levels of fifteen genes and fourteen proteins. ROC curves, multinomial regression and time-
dependent Cox regression analysis were performed. COL19A1 gene and protein levels were identified as potential prognostic
candidates in skeletal muscle samples fromALS patients. In addition, the same gene improved prognosis in blood samples from
sporadic ALS patients. These findings provide an important first step towards the accurate prediction of potential biomarkers
in ALS be the initial springboard to new clinical trials and promising therapeutic strategies.
Biography
Ana Cristina Calvo has completed her PhD in 2003 from the Anatomy and Human Histology Department in the University of Zaragoza in Spain and Post-doctoral
studies from the ALS Unit in the Hospital 12 October in Madrid (Spain) and from Faculty of Medicine in the Universidad Autónoma in Barcelona (Spain). She is an
Associate Professor in Genetics and member of the Laboratory of Genetics and Biochemistry (LAGENBIO, IA2-IIS) in the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences in the
University of Zaragoza (Spain). She has published 30 papers in reputed journals and participated as a coauthor in three licensed patents.
Ana Cristina Calvo, J Proteomics Bioinform 2017, 10:12(Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/0974-276X-C1-109