Plasma Protein Corona Fingerprinting Across Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms and Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: A Comparative Proof-of-Concept Study
- 1Operative Research Unit of Laparoscopic and Minimally Invasive Surgery, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Campus Bio-Medico, Via Alvaro del Portillo, 200, 00128 Rome, Italy
- 2Operative Research Unit of General Surgery, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Campus Bio-Medico, Via Alvaro del Portillo, 200, 00128 Rome, Italy
- 3Research Unit of General Surgery, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, 00128 Rome, Italy
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Surveillance of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) provides a clinically relevant window in which biological changes associated with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) development may potentially be investigated before advanced disease occurs. Nanoparticle-enabled protein corona (PC) fingerprinting has shown analytical potential in PDAC, but the extent to which different nanoplatforms recover distinct information across the biologically proximate IPMN-PDAC spectrum remains unclear. This exploratory study compared three nanoplatform configurations to identify a candidate workflow for subsequent validation. Methods: Plasma from 22 patients with de novo PDAC (n = 11), IPMN (n = 6), or IPMN-derived PDAC (n = 5) was incubated with graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), or cationic DOTAP-DOPE liposomes. Wash-resistant PCs were analyzed by SDS-PAGE, quantified across predefined molecular weight (MW) regions, and evaluated using exploratory linear discriminant analysis with repeated stratified cross-validation. Results: The three nanoplatforms generated non-equivalent electrophoretic PC architectures. In this small exploratory cohort, GO showed the broadest pattern of nominal clinical-group-associated variation in relative MW-region contributions and yielded internal cross-validation AUC estimates of 0.955 for IPMN versus de novo PDAC, 0.767 for IPMN versus IPMN-derived PDAC, and 0.927 for IPMN-derived versus de novo PDAC. Corresponding AUCs were 0.606–0.700 for AuNPs and 0.621–0.691 for liposomes. Conclusions: GO provided the broadest group-associated variation and numerically highest internal discrimination estimates, supporting its prioritization for independent validation and prospective longitudinal evaluation in IPMN surveillance.
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BibTeX
@article{aita2026plasma,
title = {{Plasma Protein Corona Fingerprinting Across Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms and Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: A Comparative Proof-of-Concept Study}},
author = {Sara Elsa Aita and Vincenzo La Vaccara and Roberto Cammarata and Marco Talarico and Federica Giordano and Roberto Coppola and Damiano Caputo},
journal = {Cancers},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/cancers18203275},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/18/20/3275},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Plasma Protein Corona Fingerprinting Across Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms and Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: A Comparative Proof-of-Concept Study
AU - Sara Elsa Aita
AU - Vincenzo La Vaccara
AU - Roberto Cammarata
AU - Marco Talarico
AU - Federica Giordano
AU - Roberto Coppola
AU - Damiano Caputo
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Cancers
DO - 10.3390/cancers18203275
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/18/20/3275
AB - Background/Objectives: Surveillance of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) provides a clinically relevant window in which biological changes associated with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) development may potentially be investigated before advanced disease occurs. Nanoparticle-enabled protein corona (PC) fingerprinting has shown analytical potential in PDAC, but the extent to which different nanoplatforms recover distinct information across the biologically proximate IPMN-PDAC spectrum remains unclear. This exploratory study compared three nanoplatform configurations to identify a candidate workflow for subsequent validation. Methods: Plasma from 22 patients with de novo PDAC (n = 11), IPMN (n = 6), or IPMN-derived PDAC (n = 5) was incubated with graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), or cationic DOTAP-DOPE liposomes. Wash-resistant PCs were analyzed by SDS-PAGE, quantified across predefined molecular weight (MW) regions, and evaluated using exploratory linear discriminant analysis with repeated stratified cross-validation. Results: The three nanoplatforms generated non-equivalent electrophoretic PC architectures. In this small exploratory cohort, GO showed the broadest pattern of nominal clinical-group-associated variation in relative MW-region contributions and yielded internal cross-validation AUC estimates of 0.955 for IPMN versus de novo PDAC, 0.767 for IPMN versus IPMN-derived PDAC, and 0.927 for IPMN-derived versus de novo PDAC. Corresponding AUCs were 0.606–0.700 for AuNPs and 0.621–0.691 for liposomes. Conclusions: GO provided the broadest group-associated variation and numerically highest internal discrimination estimates, supporting its prioritization for independent validation and prospective longitudinal evaluation in IPMN surveillance.
SN - 2072-6694
ER -