Sensitive New Assay System for Serum Wisteria floribunda Agglutinin-Reactive Ceruloplasmin That Distinguishes Ovarian Clear Cell Carcinoma from Endometrioma

Wisteria floribunda agglutinin (WFA)-reactive ceruloplasmin (CP) is a candidate marker for ovarian clear cell carcinoma (CCC) reported in our previous paper. Herein, a new measurement system was developed to investigate its potential as a serum marker for CCC. Site-specific glycome analysis using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry showed that WFA-CP from CCC binds to WFA via the GalNAc beta 1,4GlcNAc (LDN) structure. We used mutant recombinant WFA (rWFA), which has a high specificity to the LDN structure, instead of native WFA, to increase the specificity of the serum sample measurement. To improve the sensitivity, we used a surface plasmon field-enhanced fluorescence spectroscopy immunoassay system, which is approximately 100 times more sensitive than the conventional sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay system. With these two improvements, the specificity and sensitivity of the serum rWFA-CP measurement were dramatically improved, clearly distinguishing CCC from endometrioma, from which CCC originates. This rWFA-CP assay can be used clinically for the serodiagnosis of early-stage CCC, which is difficult to detect with existing serum markers.