Novel ELISA system for detection of N-ERC/mesothelin in the sera of mesothelioma patients

Cancer Science. 2006 Jun 7; [Epub ahead of print] [Link]

Shiomi K, Miyamoto H, Segawa T, Hagiwara Y, Ota A, Maeda M, Takahashi K, Masuda K, Sakao Y, Hino O.

Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Respiratory Medicine, Juntendo University, School of Medicine, 2-1-1 Hongo, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan.

Abstract

We have developed a novel enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) system for the detection of N-ERC/mesothelin in the serum of mesothelioma patients and have begun to examine its clinical usefulness. N-ERC/mesothelin is a 31-kDa protein that forms the N-terminal fragment of the full-length 71-kDa ERC/mesothelin protein, and is physiologically secreted into the blood of mesothelioma patients where it can be detected using our sandwich ELISA containing two antibodies (rabbit polyclonal anti-ERC/mesothelin antibody-282 and mouse monoclonal antibody 7E7). Our ELISA system has thus far detected much higher serum levels of N-ERC/mesothelin in mesothelioma patients than in healthy controls or patients with other lung or pleural diseases. In conclusion, N-ERC/mesothelin is a promising candidate tumor marker for mesothelioma.