Bertalan Mesko

Publications

• 3.85

  Impact points

  Peripheral Blood Gene Expression and IgG Glycosylation Profiles as Markers of Tocilizumab Treatment in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

  Bertalan Mesko, Szilard Poliska, Szilvia Szamosi, Zoltan Szekanecz, Janos Podani, Csaba Varadi, Andras Guttman, Laszlo Nagy

  The Journal of rheumatology. 04/2012;

  OBJECTIVE: Tocilizumab, a humanized anti-interleukin-6 receptor monoclonal antibody, has recently been approved as a biological therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other diseases. It is not known if there are characteristic changes in gene expression and immunoglobulin G glycosylation during t... [more] OBJECTIVE: Tocilizumab, a humanized anti-interleukin-6 receptor monoclonal antibody, has recently been approved as a biological therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other diseases. It is not known if there are characteristic changes in gene expression and immunoglobulin G glycosylation during therapy or in response to treatment. METHODS: Global gene expression profiles from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 13 patients with RA and active disease at Week 0 (baseline) and Week 4 following treatment were obtained together with clinical measures, serum cytokine levels using ELISA, and the degree of galactosylation of the IgG Nglycan chains. Gene sets separating responders and nonresponders were tested using canonical variates analysis. This approach also revealed important gene groups and pathways that differentiate responders from nonresponders. RESULTS: Fifty-nine genes showed significant differences between baseline and Week 4 and thus correlated with treatment. Significantly, 4 genes determined responders after correction for multiple testing. Ten of the 12 genes with the most significant changes were validated using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. An increase in the terminal galactose content of N-linked glycans of IgG was observed in responders versus nonresponders, as well as in treated samples versus samples obtained at baseline. CONCLUSION: As a preliminary report, gene expression changes as a result of tocilizumab therapy in RA were examined, and gene sets discriminating between responders and nonresponders were found and validated. A significant increase in the degree of galactosylation of IgG N-glycans in patients with RA treated with tocilizumab was documented.
• 2.00

  Impact points

  The triad of success in personalised medicine: pharmacogenomics, biotechnology and regulatory issues from a Central European perspective.

  Bertalan Mesko, Gabor Zahuczky, Laszlo Nagy

  New biotechnology. 03/2012;

  The population of the world has recently passed the 7 billion milestone and as the cost of human genome sequencing is rapidly declining, sequence data of billions of people should be accessible much sooner than anyone would have predicted 10years ago. This will form the basis of personalised medicin... [more] The population of the world has recently passed the 7 billion milestone and as the cost of human genome sequencing is rapidly declining, sequence data of billions of people should be accessible much sooner than anyone would have predicted 10years ago. This will form the basis of personalised medicine. However it is still not clear, even in principle, whether these data, combined with data of the expression of one's genome in various cells and tissues relevant to different diseases, could be used effectively in clinical medicine and healthcare, or in predicting responses to different therapies. Therefore this is an important issue which needs to be addressed before more resources are wasted on less than informative studies and surveys simply because technologies exist. As a typical example, we have selected and summarise here key studies from the biomedical literature that focus on gene expression profiling of the response to biologic therapies in peripheral blood and biopsy samples in autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, spondylarthropathy, inflammatory bowel diseases and psoriasis. We also present the state of the biotechnology market from a European perspective, discuss how spin-offs leverage the power of genomic technologies and describe how they might contribute to personalised medicine. As ethical, legal and social issues are essential in the area of genomics, we analysed these aspects and present here the European situation with a special focus on Hungary. We propose that the synergy of these three issues: pharmacogenomics, biotechnology and regulatory issues should be considered a triad necessary to succeed in personalised medicine.
• 11.05

  Impact points

  Gene expression profiles in peripheral blood for the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases.

  Bertalan Mesko, Szilard Poliska, Laszlo Nagy

  Trends in molecular medicine. 03/2011; 17(4):223-33.

  Gene expression profiling in clinical genomics has yet to deliver robust and reliable approaches for developing diagnostics and contributing to personalized medicine. Owing to technological developments and the recent accumulation of expression profiles, it is a timely and relevant question whether ... [more] Gene expression profiling in clinical genomics has yet to deliver robust and reliable approaches for developing diagnostics and contributing to personalized medicine. Owing to technological developments and the recent accumulation of expression profiles, it is a timely and relevant question whether peripheral blood gene expression profiling can be used routinely in clinical decision making. Here, we review the available gene expression profiling data of peripheral blood in autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases and suggest that peripheral blood mononuclear cells are suitable for descriptive and comparative gene expression analyses. A gene-disease interaction network in chronic inflammatory diseases, a general protocol for future studies and a decision tree for researchers are presented to facilitate standardization and adoption of this approach.
• 1.94

  Impact points

  Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease-specific gene expression signatures of alveolar macrophages as well as peripheral blood monocytes overlap and correlate with lung function.

  Szilard Poliska, Eszter Csanky, Attila Szanto, Istvan Szatmari, Bertalan Mesko, Lajos Szeles, Balazs Dezso, Beata Scholtz, Janos Podani, Iain Kilty, Laszlo Takacs, Laszlo Nagy

  Respiration; international review of thoracic diseases. 03/2011; 81(6):499-510.

  Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by progressive airflow limitation and significant extrapulmonary (systemic) effects that lead to co-morbid conditions, though the pathomechanism of COPD is largely undetermined. Alveolar macrophages (AM) der... [more] Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by progressive airflow limitation and significant extrapulmonary (systemic) effects that lead to co-morbid conditions, though the pathomechanism of COPD is largely undetermined. Alveolar macrophages (AM) derived from peripheral monocytes (MO) appear to play a key role in initiating and/or sustaining disease progression. To identify disease- and cell type-specific gene expression profiles and potential overlaps in those in order to diagnose COPD, characterize its progression and determine the effect of drug treatment. Global gene expression analysis was used for primary screening in order to obtain expression signatures of AMs and circulating MOs of COPD patients and healthy controls. The results of microarray analyses of AMs (20 controls and 26 COPD patients) and MOs (16 controls and 22 COPD patients) were confirmed and validated by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. We have identified gene sets specifically associated with COPD in AMs and MOs. There were overlapping genes between the two cell types. Our data also show that COPD-specific gene expression signatures in AMs and MOs correlate with percent of predicted FEV(1). Disease-specific and overlapping gene expression signatures can be defined in lung-derived macrophages and also in circulating monocytes. Some of the validated expression changes in both cell types correlate with lung function and therefore could serve as biomarkers of disease progression.
• 1.33

  Impact points

  Revolution in education--new possibilities in education of medical students.

  János Kollár, Bertalan Meskó

  Medical teacher. 01/2011; 33(8):685-6.
• 3.92

  Impact points

  Wikipedia: a key tool for global public health promotion.

  James M Heilman, Eckhard Kemmann, Michael Bonert, Anwesh Chatterjee, Brent Ragar, Graham M Beards, David J Iberri, Matthew Harvey, Brendan Thomas, Wouter Stomp, Michael F Martone, Daniel J Lodge, Andrea Vondracek, Jacob F de Wolff, Casimir Liber, Samir C Grover, Tim J Vickers, Bertalan Meskó, Michaël R Laurent

  Journal of medical Internet research. 01/2011; 13(1):e14.

  The Internet has become an important health information resource for patients and the general public. Wikipedia, a collaboratively written Web-based encyclopedia, has become the dominant online reference work. It is usually among the top results of search engine queries, including when medical infor... [more] The Internet has become an important health information resource for patients and the general public. Wikipedia, a collaboratively written Web-based encyclopedia, has become the dominant online reference work. It is usually among the top results of search engine queries, including when medical information is sought. Since April 2004, editors have formed a group called WikiProject Medicine to coordinate and discuss the English-language Wikipedia's medical content. This paper, written by members of the WikiProject Medicine, discusses the intricacies, strengths, and weaknesses of Wikipedia as a source of health information and compares it with other medical wikis. Medical professionals, their societies, patient groups, and institutions can help improve Wikipedia's health-related entries. Several examples of partnerships already show that there is enthusiasm to strengthen Wikipedia's biomedical content. Given its unique global reach, we believe its possibilities for use as a tool for worldwide health promotion are underestimated. We invite the medical community to join in editing Wikipedia, with the goal of providing people with free access to reliable, understandable, and up-to-date health information.
• 2.66

  Impact points

  Peripheral blood gene expression patterns discriminate among chronic inflammatory diseases and healthy controls and identify novel targets.

  Bertalan Mesko, Szilard Poliska, Andrea Szegedi, Zoltan Szekanecz, Karoly Palatka, Maria Papp, Laszlo Nagy

  BMC medical genomics. 01/2010; 3:15.

  Chronic inflammatory diseases including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD; Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis), psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) afflict millions of people worldwide, but their pathogenesis is still not well understood. It is also not well known if distinct changes in ge... [more] Chronic inflammatory diseases including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD; Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis), psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) afflict millions of people worldwide, but their pathogenesis is still not well understood. It is also not well known if distinct changes in gene expression characterize these diseases and if these patterns can discriminate between diseased and control patients and/or stratify the disease. The main focus of our work was the identification of novel markers that overlap among the 3 diseases or discriminate them from each other. Diseased (n = 13, n = 15 and n = 12 in IBD, psoriasis and RA respectively) and healthy patients (n = 18) were recruited based on strict inclusion and exclusion criteria; peripheral blood samples were collected by clinicians (30 ml) in Venous Blood Vacuum Collection Tubes containing EDTA and peripheral blood mononuclear cells were separated by Ficoll gradient centrifugation. RNA was extracted using Trizol reagent. Gene expression data was obtained using TaqMan Low Density Array (TLDA) containing 96 genes that were selected by an algorithm and the statistical analyses were performed in Prism by using non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test (P-values < 0.05). Here we show that using a panel of 96 disease associated genes and measuring mRNA expression levels in peripheral blood derived mononuclear cells; we could identify disease-specific gene panels that separate each disease from healthy controls. In addition, a panel of five genes such as ADM, AQP9, CXCL2, IL10 and NAMPT discriminates between all samples from patients with chronic inflammation and healthy controls. We also found genes that stratify the diseases and separate different subtypes or different states of prognosis in each condition. These findings and the identification of five universal markers of chronic inflammation suggest that these diseases have a common background in pathomechanism, but still can be separated by peripheral blood gene expression. Importantly, the identified genes can be associated with overlapping biological processes including changed inflammatory response. Gene panels based on such markers can play a major role in the development of personalized medicine, in monitoring disease progression and can lead to the identification of new potential drug targets in chronic inflammation.
• 3.88

  Impact points

  Transdab wiki: the interactive transglutaminase substrate database on web 2.0 surface.

  Eva Csősz, Bertalan Meskó, László Fésüs

  Amino acids. 08/2008;

  TRANSDAB wiki is a database of transglutaminase substrate proteins. This wiki is designed to provide quality content of all the details (including synonyms, structures, references) about transglutaminase substrate proteins and interaction partners. Currently TRANSDAB contains 243 articles about subs... [more] TRANSDAB wiki is a database of transglutaminase substrate proteins. This wiki is designed to provide quality content of all the details (including synonyms, structures, references) about transglutaminase substrate proteins and interaction partners. Currently TRANSDAB contains 243 articles about substrate proteins for 6 transglutaminase types in a user-friendly, editable format. Our aim was to collect structural information about substrate proteins and this information is provided in form of images, videos and links. The scientific community is invited to edit the database and besides providing up-to-date information, this wiki should serve as a platform for valuable discussions.

• [New possibilities provided by the internet in medicine]

  Bertalan Meskó, Attila Dubecz

  Orvosi hetilap. 12/2007; 148(44):2095-9.

  The importance of the internet and some new generation services of the web (so-called web 2.0) is exponentially growing. As web 2.0 is based on collaboration, feedback and communities, it can ease the work of physicians. The authors give a short overview of the web 2.0 tools created for physicians. ... [more] The importance of the internet and some new generation services of the web (so-called web 2.0) is exponentially growing. As web 2.0 is based on collaboration, feedback and communities, it can ease the work of physicians. The authors give a short overview of the web 2.0 tools created for physicians. The new tools of web 2.0 can save time for physicians, it makes it easier to share knowledge and experience; and to follow your field of interest. The authors conclude that physicians, medical workers should take control of publishing medical information on the internet.

• [One and half centuries of genetics]

  Bertalan Meskó

  Orvosi hetilap. 09/2004; 145(32):1671-2.