Creative Biolabs is a contract research organization specialized in offering customized services for the development of antibodies for use in diagnostics, drug discovery, and basic research. Especially, we provide the expertise and personnel to offer high-quality in vitro diagnostic (IVD) antibody & immunoassay development services targeting a wide range of high-value diagnostic biomarkers to our clients, such as B7 homologous body 4 (B7-H4) marker.
B7-H4, also known as VTCN1, B7x, or B7S1, is an important member of the B7 family co-regulatory ligands. B7-H4 belongs to type I transmembrane protein that consists of a signal peptide region, one pair of V, C immunoglobulin extracellular domains, a transmembrane domain, and a cytoplasmic domain. B7-H4 expression is absent in most normal human tissues but is over-expressed in a variety of cancers, including lung, ovarian, breast, uterus, prostate, renal, gastric, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and esophageal cancers. Therefore, B7-H4 is implicated as a promising biomarker and a candidate therapeutic target for multiple types of human cancers. Infiltrating cells in the cancer microenvironment, especially the dendritic cell (DC) and cancer-associated macrophage (CAM), induce B7-H4 expression. B7-H4 inhibits anti-cancer immunity by inhibiting T cell proliferation, inducing T-cell apoptosis, arresting the cell cycle of T-cells, and inhibiting cytokine secretion of T-cells. Furthermore, B7-H4 also plays an important role in inhibiting the function of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and promoting the proliferation and development of regulatory T cells (Tregs).
Fig.1 Expression of B7-H4 in cervical tissues. (a) Negative B7-H4 staining in chronic cervicitis, (b) positive B7-H4 staining in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia-3, and (c) positive B7-H4 staining in squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix.3
Many studies have reported the potential of B7-H4 for cancer diagnosis or prognosis. Lan et al. (2018) investigated the clinical value of serum B7-H4 protein detection for the diagnosis of ovarian cancer (OC) in Chinese Han women by pooling published data. They concluded that serum B7-H4 detection, either alone or in combination with carbohydrate antigen 125, had acceptable value in the diagnosis of OC. Azuma et al. (2018) investigated the clinical significance of serum soluble B7-H4 in patients with non-metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma by measuring the serum soluble B7-H4 level using the Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA) in patients diagnosed with the disease. They found that serum soluble B7-H4 was a prognostic marker for patients diagnosed with non-metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Besides serum B7-H4, evaluation of the expression levels of B7-H4 in tissue specimens was also reported to be useful for predicting the progression of many malignancies and prognosis.
Aided by our advanced IVD platform, Creative Biolabs can generate antibodies with high affinity and specificity that are specific to diagnostic targets. Besides, we also provide services to biotech companies and academic researchers for their needs in developing diagnostic immunoassays of various formats, including lateral flow assay, ELISA, latex-based assays, etc. For more detailed information about what we offer for each stage of the development process, please click the links below:
Please feel free to contact us for more information and discuss your project needs.
References
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