Publication Date

2023

Document Type

Poster

Department

Science department

Faculty Mentor

Dr. Mary Ann Yang

Abstract

In this project, we investigated the expression of the isoenzymes Arginase 1 (ARG1) and Arginase 2 (ARG2) in fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (FL-HCC) tissue samples. Previous proteomics data had predicted ARG2 to be up-regulated in FL-HCC without clear indication of dysregulation in ARG1. We utilized western blot analysis to determine protein expression by comparing five FL-HCC patient samples to three normal liver tissue samples.

During the analysis, we discovered the non-specificity of several commercially bought ARG2 antibodies. This led to the design and execution of various experiments aimed at troubleshooting and identifying a commercially available ARG2 antibody that is specific for the ARG2 isotype. Once the ARG2 isotype-specific antibody was identified, it was used for western blot analysis. Our data concluded that ARG2 expression is up-regulated in FL-HCC.

In addition, our data shows that ARG1 expression is sample-specific, pointing to possible stage-specific dysregulation of ARG1 in FL-HCC tumor samples. Overall, our project demonstrates the importance of verifying isoform-specific antibodies while determining the expression of Arginase isoforms in tissue samples.

Our findings have important implications for FL-HCC research, as they suggest that targeting ARG2 may be a promising therapeutic strategy. Additionally, our study highlights the need for careful validation of isoform-specific antibodies in cancer research, which can improve the accuracy and reliability of experimental results.

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