Tumor Proteolytic Activity in Esophageal Cancer
摘要
The growth of malignant tumors is accompanied by an increase in plasmin activity, one of the key enzymes in oncogenesis. IgG proteolysis by plasmin yields fragments with exposed C-terminal lysine residues that can bind to plasmin heavy chain. Highly purified plasminogen (plasmin precursor) and heavy chains containing lysine-binding sites were isolated. The formation of IgG fragments as a result of their proteolysis by plasmin in solution was shown. Using ELISA with immobilized heavy chains, we found increased concentration of IgG fragments in the sera of patients with esophageal cancer in comparison with healthy donors. The test had high sensitivity (91%) and specificity (85%).