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(The American Journal of Human Genetics 101, 789–802; November 2, 2017) In the version of this paper originally published, the author's name Anna Materna-Kiryluk was incorrectly hyphenated. It appears correctly here and online. The authors apologize for this error.

No ideal serum markers for screening colorectal cancer (CRC) have been identified. The aim of this study was to determine the usefulness of endothelial cell-specific molecule-1 (ESM-1) as a serum marker for CRC. Illumina microarray was carried out to search CRC-related biomarkers. cDNA microarray detected that ESM-1 was one of the overexpressed genes in CRC. Overexpression of ESM-1 mRNA was confirmed in tissues of CRC by RT-PCR and real-time PCR. Immunohistochemical staining showed strong expression of ESM-1 in the cytoplasm of tumor cells. Overexpression of ESM-1 in human serum with CRC was found by Western blot analysis. For quantitative analysis of ESM-1 in serum, we determined the ESM-1 levels in serum specimens using an ELISA kit. We showed that the ESM-1 levels in the serum of patients with CRC were significantly elevated (70.1 ± 29.7 pg/mL) compared to healthy subjects (29.7 ± 14.9 pg/mL). The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of ESM-1 for CRC were 0.94, 99%, and 73%, respectively, by receiver operating characteristics curve analysis. The positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 63% and 95%, respectively. The likelihood ratios of a positive or negative test result were 73 and 0.27, respectively. When analyzed with a Cox regression model, a higher serum ESM-1 level (≥76.0 pg/mL) was correlated with poor prognosis. This study suggests that expression of ESM-1 is increased in tissue and serum of CRC patients and that ESM-1 can be used as a potential serum marker for the early detection of CRC. (Cancer Sci 2010); 101: xxx–xxx

Annexin II (Annexin A2, ANXA2) is a 36 kDa calcium-dependent phospholipid-binding protein that is located on the surface of most eukaryotic cells. ANXA2 is involved in several biological processes, including anti-inflammatory effects, Ca27+-dependent exocytosis, immune responses, Ca2+ transport and phospholipase A2 regulation. In our previous study, ANXA2 was identified as an up-regulated gene in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissue by cDNA microarray. In the present study, we have evaluated ANXA2 as a tumor-associated marker of HCC. We determined the ANXA2 levels in human liver tissues with HCC using real-time RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. For quantitative analysis of the ANXA2 protein in body fluids, we developed a sandwich ELISA system in which a polyclonal antibody and a monoclonal antibody specific to ANXA2 were employed as a capture antibody and a probe antibody, respectively. We detected the ANXA2 concentration in human serum using our newly developed system and evaluated its usefulness as a tumor marker. Overexpression of ANXA2 in human liver tissue was confirmed by real-time RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. The sandwich ELISA system for ANXA2 was developed for the detection of ANXA2 in human samples. The dose-response relationship between ANXA2 and optical density was linear in the range of 0-10 microg/ml and the sensitivity was 0.02 microg/ml. We determined the ANXA2 concentration in serum specimens using the newly developed sandwich ELISA. The serum ANXA2 concentrations of the patients with HCC (53.38+/-36.23 microg/ml) were significantly elevated when compared with those of normal individuals (28.81+/-24.94 microg/ml). These results suggest that expression of ANXA2 may be increased in HCC patients and may play an important role in liver cancer progression. This new ELISA method can be used as a tool for the detection of ANXA2 in human serum, particularly for cancer diagnostics.

Structural brain abnormalities, including larger cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volumes, have been observed in men diagnosed as having schizotypal personality disorder (SPD).To determine whether women with SPD have abnormalities similar to those of men with SPD and to elucidate specific SPD regional volume deficits and symptom correlations.Naturalistic study.Thirty neuroleptic-naive women with SPD and 29 female control subjects, both recruited from the community. Participants were group matched for age, parental socioeconomic status, handedness, and IQ.A new segmentation method was applied to magnetic resonance images to automatically parcel the images into CSF, gray matter, and white matter. The neocortex was manually separated from subcortical and other nonneocortical structures. Voxel-based morphometry was applied to determine global and regional volume deficits.Left and right neocortical gray matter, white matter, and CSF relative volumes as well as clinical symptoms from the Structured Interview for Schizotypy and the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief Version.Smaller left (3.84%) and right (3.83%) neocortical gray matter relative volumes associated with larger left (9.66%) and right (9.61%) sulcal CSF relative volumes were found in women with SPD compared with controls. Voxel-based morphometry showed that the neocortical deficits in SPD were especially prominent in the left superior and middle temporal gyri, left inferior parietal region with postcentral gyrus, and right superior frontal and inferior parietal gyri. In the SPD group, larger lateral ventricle volumes correlated with more severe symptoms on the Structured Interview for Schizotypy and the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief Version.The smaller neocortical gray matter volume and larger sulcal CSF volume provide evidence of the brain basis of this personality disorder and emphasize the communality of brain abnormalities in the schizophrenia spectrum.