Plasma membrane protein profiling in plasma cells, stromal cells and bone marrow microenvironment mononuclear cells in multiple myeloma patients using the ESI QTOF MS method.

• Grant number: 10/16554-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Effective date (Start): February 01, 2011
• Effective date (End): March 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Medical Clinics
• Principal Investigator: Gisele Wally Braga Colleoni
• Grantee: Fabricio de Carvalho
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 10/17668-6 - Identification of biomarkers and possible therapeutical targets in B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders, AP.TEM

Abstract

Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a cancer characterized by the infiltration and growth of malignant monoclonal plasma cells in the bone marrow microenvironment, presence of monoclonal immunoglobulin in the blood and/or urine, and lytic bone lesions.The characterization of the mechanisms responsible for expansion MM cells is difficult, because there are many genetic alterations identified in malignant plasma cells and changes in bone marrow microenvironment leading to tumor growth and immune system failure also contributing to minimal residual disease and drug resistance. Microenviroment factors may be soluble - as cytokines, chemokines and growth factors - and physical, including extracellular matrix glycoproteins and bone marrow stromal cells. The plasma membrane consists of an interface between eukaryotic cells and the external environment, and the abnormal expression of plasma membrane proteins causes serious biological effects, changing the morphology and function of the cell, which can be observed in tumor cells compared with normal cells. The analysis of proteins expressed on the membrane of the plasma cells, stromal cells and mononuclear cells present in bone marrow microenvironment of multiple myeloma patients using the ESI QTOF MS (electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry) could help in finding new therapeutic targets and prognostic markers in MM.