Comprehensive aptamer-based screening identifies a spectrum of urinary biomarkers of lupus nephritis across ethnicities

Samantha Stanley, Kamala Vanarsa, Samar Soliman, Deena Habazi, Claudia Pedroza, Gabriel Gidley, Ting Zhang, Shree Mohan, Evan Der, Hemant Suryawanshi, Thomas Tuschl, Jill Buyon (+5 others)
2020 Nature Communications  
Emerging urinary biomarkers continue to show promise in evaluating lupus nephritis (LN). Here, we screen urine from active LN patients for 1129 proteins using an aptamer-based platform, followed by ELISA validation in two independent cohorts comprised of 127 inactive lupus, 107 active LN, 67 active non-renal lupus patients and 74 healthy controls, of three different ethnicities. Urine proteins that best distinguish active LN from inactive disease are ALCAM, PF-4, properdin, and VCAM-1 among
more » ... can-Americans, sE-selectin, VCAM-1, BFL-1 and Hemopexin among Caucasians, and ALCAM, VCAM-1, TFPI and PF-4 among Asians. Most of these correlate significantly with disease activity indices in the respective ethnic groups, and surpass conventional metrics in identifying active LN, with better sensitivity, and negative/positive predictive values. Several elevated urinary molecules are also expressed within the kidneys in LN, based on single-cell RNAseq analysis. Longitudinal studies are warranted to assess the utility of these biomarkers in tracking lupus nephritis.
doi:10.1038/s41467-020-15986-3 pmid:32366845 fatcat:hth3a5iqd5fpphzrhp7szdapje