Bertis Presents Research Findings on Candidate Protein Biomarkers
for Precision Diagnosis of Ovarian Aging at International Conference
-At the 3rd Reproductive Aging Conference held in Cancun, Mexico from May
1st to 4th, Bertis unveiled research findings on protein biomarkers involved in
ovarian aging.-The
biomarkers expected to be valuable for evaluating ovarian aging, directly
associated with the health span of postmenopausal women.
On May 9th, Bertis, a company specializing in the development of
proteomics-based precision medicine technology (led by CEOs Dong-young Noh and
Seung-man Han), announced that it has unveiled research results identifying
protein biomarker candidates involved in ovarian aging at the 3rd Reproductive
Aging Conference held in Cancun, Mexico from May 1st to 4th.Ovaries are one
of the organs that age most rapidly in the body. As individuals age, the number
of oocytes, the immature precursors to eggs, decreases continuously, and their
quality deteriorates. This is a significant factor contributing to infertility problems
in modern societies where advanced maternal age pregnancy is common. Moreover, ovarian
aging is thought to be directly proportional to postmenopausal health span. Hence,
accurate monitoring and prediction of ovarian aging is paramount to
personalized fertility.Bertis research team in
this study presented 12 protein candidate biomarkers derived from genes
specifically expressed in oocytes, which decrease in expression with increasing
age in the ovaries. Additionally, they identified two proteins of them showing
significant differences in expression levels between women in their 20s and
30s, suggesting these proteins as useful biomarker candidates not only for evaluating
oocyte numbers but also for assessing their quality.The ‘Reproductive
Aging Conference,’ in which Bertis participated, is an international conference
that focuses on the significant impact of reproductive organ tissue aging on
human aging, sharing related research trends and achievements. At this
conference, Bertis presented research findings on the topic of ‘Systematic Mining
of Potential Biomarkers for Ovarian Reserve Using Multi-omics data sets’ through
a poster presentation.Dr. Sunghyun
Huh, Head of the Bioinformatics Team at Bertis Biomarker Research Institute, who
led the study, remarked, "If we can precisely diagnose the degree of
ovarian aging in women, it will not only enable more effective management of
infertility but also lead to personalized approaches to women's health in the
future." He added, "We will continue to pursue research necessary to
apply Bertis' advanced proteomics technology to aging studies, aiming to
introduce technologies that can be utilized in clinical settings."Currently, some
ovarian reserve tests have been introduced, such as measurement of plasma AMH (Anti-Mullerian
Hormone) or ultrasound imaging of AFC (Antral Follicle Count). neither of these
tests directly represents the quantity of oocytes, and assessing the quality of
oocytes, which is closely related to age, is also challenging. The research
team attempted a systematic approach to identify potential biomarkers for
ovarian reserve by integrating public datasets including transcriptomics and
proteomics of ovarian tissues, cells, and biofluids, aiming to directly confirm
the quantity and quality of oocytes.
<Image: Expression Patterns of Biomarkers of
Oocyte Quantity and Quality>To identify
biomarkers for assessing the number of oocytes, the research team first
selected 4,227 genes from a total of 17,769 genes in the GTEx dataset, showing
decreased expression in the ovaries with increasing age. Among these, they narrowed
down to 33 genes specifically expressed in the ovaries compared to other
tissues. Finally, they confirmed 12 protein candidate biomarkers derived from
12 genes specifically expressed in oocytes as the final candidates.Furthermore, to
determine if the candidate biomarkers could also assess the quality of oocytes,
they conducted single cell RNAseq analysis to compare the expression levels of
candidate biomarkers in oocytes from average women in their 20s and 30s. As a
result, two protein biomarkers among the candidates showed significant
differences in expression levels between women in their 20s and 30s, suggesting
their utility not only in evaluating oocyte numbers but also in assessing their
quality.Moreover, in
terms of detectability of the protein biomarkers, six out of the 12 candidate
protein biomarkers including two biomarkers indicating the quality of oocytes, were
found in public blood protein datasets and in in-house serum spectral library. It
means subset of candidates show detectability in the blood proteome. Therefore,
in subsequent studies, the research team plans to confirm the expression levels
of these candidate biomarkers during blood protein analysis to determine
whether they can be used as indicators of ovarian aging.Amidst worldwide anti-aging research and product development
efforts, Bertis is conducting aging research using a proteomics-based approach.
Leveraging its unparalleled protein profiling capabilities and a library of
protein quantification analysis built over a decade of research, Bertis
continues its efforts to discover markers useful for diagnosing diseases
resulting from aging and developing treatments.