prof. Joris Delanghe (MD, PhD)

My research topics are plasma protein chemistry and glycomics. Many human plasma proteins are quite polymorphic. Different alleles (comparable to e.g. blood groups and eye colour) are associated with functional differences. These differences result in risk/protection for various diseases, such as cancer. The study of these protein polymorphisms is interesting in certain cancers such as asbestos-induced mesothelioma. This research is helpful in understanding the mechanisms leading to cancer.
Glycomics can be considered as the sweet side of biodiscovery. Protein structures usually contain a broad variety of sugars (sialic acid, fucose, galactose, mannose, glucosamine, galactosamine), which are actively attached to the proteins due to the action of specific enzymes. In many diseases (e.g. cancer), the sugar chains attached to proteins will vary due to an altered enzyme expression. Using glycomics techniques (based on capillary electrophoresis), it is possible to analyse in detail the different carbohydrate structures in human health and disease. This allows the development of biomarkers (e.g. in plasma or urine) for diagnosis, prognosis  and monitoring of cancer and other diseases. The research aims at developing better and earlier biomarkers for cancer.
 

Prof. Dr. Joris R. Delanghe, is known in the field of clinical chemistry, urinalysis and plasma protein chemistry. He received his MD (1982) and PhD (1989) at Ghent University (Belgium). He was trained in laboratory medicine and nuclear medicine in Bruges, Leuven , Ghent, and Stuttgart. Since 1990, he is in charge of the Clinical Chemistry Laboratory at the Ghent University Hospital. In 1994, he became professor of clinical chemistry at the Ghent University. He is also a member of the Doctoral Committee of the faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Ghent University).
Prof. Dr. Delanghe has authored or co-authored over 400 peer reviewed publications, over 20 book chapters, and over 400 published abstracts. He is the vice-president of the Royal Belgian Society for Clinical Chemistry. Since 2003, he has been co-editor-in-chief of Clinica Chimica Acta. He has spoken on his research throughout Europe, the U.S., Africa, and Asia. He has been visiting professor in Lithuania, Zimbabwe, China, and Rwanda.
 

• Noninvasive diagnosis of liver cirrhosis using DNA sequencer-based total serum protein glycomics. Nature Medicine 2004 (PMID: 15152612)
• High-throughput profiling of the serum N-glycome on capillary electrophoresis microfluidics systems: toward clinical implementation of GlycoHepatoTest. Analytical Chemistry 2010 (PMID: 20684520)
• Diagnostic value of the hemopexin N-glycan profile in hepatocellular carcinoma patients. Clinical Chemistry 2010 (PMID: 20348404)
• Prostate specific antigen glycosylation profile assists in the diagnosis of prostate cancer. Electrophoresis 2014 (PMID: 24254641)
• Use of urinary prostate proteins glycosylation profiling as a diagnostic biomarker for prostate cancer. Prostate 2015 (PMID: 25358590)
• An unusual serum electrophoresis pattern in a woman with pancreatic carcinoma. Clinical Chemistry 2008 (PMID: 18755907).
• The haptoglobin phenotype influences the risk of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma in kidney transplant patients. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology 2012 (PMID: 21575065)
• DNA methylation-based biomarkers in serum of patients with breast cancer. Mutation Research 2012 (PMID: 22698615)
• Human epididymis protein 4 in cancer diagnostics: a promising and reliable tumor marker. Advances in Clinical Chemistry 2013 (PMID: 23461131)

Address: Laboratory for Clinical Chemistry, 1P8, UZ Gent, Corneel Heymanslaan 10, 9000 Gent