The Current State of Proteomics in GI Oncology

Proteomics refers to the study of the entire set of proteins in a given cell or tissue. With the extensive development of protein separation, mass spectrometry, and bioinformatics technologies, clinical proteomics has shown its potential as a powerful approach for biomarker discovery, particularly in the area of oncology. More than 130 exploratory studies have defined candidate markers in serum, gastrointestinal (GI) fluids, or cancer tissue. In this article, we introduce the commonly adopted proteomic technologies and describe results of a comprehensive review of studies that have applied these technologies to GI oncology, with a particular emphasis on developments in the last 3 years. We discuss reasons why the more than 130 studies to date have had little discernible clinical impact, and we outline steps that may allow proteomics to realize its promise for early detection of disease, monitoring of disease recurrence, and identification of targets for individualized therapy

Multiple Coulomb phase in the fluoride pyrochlore CsNiCrF6

The Coulomb phase is an idealized state of matter whose properties are determined by factors beyond conventional considerations of symmetry, including global topology, conservation laws and emergent order. Theoretically, Coulomb phases occur in ice-type systems such as water ice and spin ice; in dimer models; and in certain spin liquids. However, apart from ice-type systems, more general experimental examples are very scarce. Here we study the partly disordered material CsNiCrF6 and show that this material is a multiple Coulomb phase with signature correlations in three degrees of freedom: charge configurations, atom displacements and spin configurations. We use neutron and X-ray scattering to separate these correlations and to determine the magnetic excitation spectrum. Our results show how the structural and magnetic properties of apparently disordered materials may inherit, and be dictated by, a hidden symmetry—the local gauge symmetry of an underlying Coulomb phase