Proteome profiling reveals potential toxicity and detoxification pathways following exposure of BEAS-2B cells to engineered nanoparticle titanium dioxide

Oxidative stress is known to play important roles in engineered nanomaterial‐induced cellular toxicity. However, the proteins and signaling pathways associated with the engineered nanomaterial‐mediated oxidative stress and toxicity are largely unknown. To identify these toxicity pathways and networks that are associated with exposure to engineered nanomaterials, an integrated proteomic study was conducted using human bronchial epithelial cells, BEAS‐2B and nanoscale titanium dioxide. Utilizing 2‐DE and MS, we identified 46 proteins that were altered at protein expression levels. The protein changes detected by 2‐DE/MS were verified by functional protein assays. These identified proteins include some key proteins involved in cellular stress response, metabolism, adhesion, cytoskeletal dynamics, cell growth, cell death, and cell signaling. The differentially expressed proteins were mapped using Ingenuity Pathway Analyses^? canonical pathways and Ingenuity Pathway Analyses tox lists to create protein‐interacting networks and proteomic pathways. Twenty protein canonical pathways and tox lists were generated, and these pathways were compared to signaling pathways generated from genomic analyses of BEAS‐2B cells treated with titanium dioxide. There was a significant overlap in the specific pathways and lists generated from the proteomic and the genomic data. In addition, we also analyzed the phosphorylation profiles of protein kinases in titanium dioxide‐treated BEAS‐2B cells for a better understanding of upstream signaling pathways in response to the titanium dioxide treatment and the induced oxidative stress. In summary, the present study provides the first protein‐interacting network maps and novel insights into the biological responses and potential toxicity and detoxification pathways of titanium dioxide.     

A proteomic investigation into adriamycin chemo-resistance of human leukemia K562 cells

This study aimed to explore the mechanism of adriamycin resistance in human chronic myelogenous leukemia cells. Proteomic approach was utilized to compare and identify differentially expressed proteins between human chronic myelogenous leukemia K562 cells and their adriamycin-resistant counterparts. The differentially expressed proteins were analyzed by 2-DE (two-dimensional gel electrophoresis), and protein identification were performed on ESI-Q-TOF MS/MS instrument. Out of the 35 differentially expressed proteins between the two cell lines, 29 were identified and grouped into 10 functional classes. Most of identified proteins were related to the categories of metabolism (24%), proteolysis (13%), signal transduction (21%) and calcium ion binding (6%), suggesting that alterations of those biological processes might be involved in adriamycin resistance of K562 cells. We believe this study may provide some clues to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying adriamycin resistance.     

Proteomic analysis of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded lung neuroendocrine tumor samples from hospital archives

Hospital tissue repositories host an invaluable supply of diseased samples with matched retrospective clinical information. In this work, a recently optimized method for extracting full-length proteins from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues was evaluated on lung neuroendocrine tumor (LNET) samples collected from hospital repositories. LNETs comprise a heterogeneous spectrum of diseases, for which subtype-specific diagnostic markers are lacking. Six archival samples diagnosed as typical carcinoid (TC) or small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) were subjected to a full-length protein extraction followed by a GeLC-MS/MS analysis, enabling the identification of over 300 distinct proteins per tumor subtype. All identified proteins were categorized through DAVID software, revealing a differential distribution of functional classes, such as those involved in RNA processing, response to oxidative stress and ion homeostasis. Moreover, using spectral counting for protein abundance estimation and beta-binomial test as statistical filter, a list of 28 differentially expressed proteins was generated and submitted to pathway analysis by means of Ingenuity Pathway Analysis software. Differential expression of chromogranin-A (more expressed in TCs) and stathmin (more expressed in SCLCs) was consistently confirmed by immunohistochemistry. Therefore, FFPE hospital archival samples can be successfully subjected to proteomic investigations aimed to biomarker discovery following a GeLC-MS/MS label-free approach.     

Proteomic and functional analysis of zebrafish after administration of antimicrobial peptide epinecidin-1

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) play important roles in innate immunity. One such AMP, epinecidin-1, exhibits antibacterial effects in zebrafish. In the current study, we aimed to identify the antimicrobial-associated proteins affected by epinecidin-1 treatment, and to unravel the underlying antimicrobial molecular mechanisms of epinecidin-1. We analyzed proteome changes in epinecidin-1-treated zebrafish using two-dimensional electrophoresis (2DE) coupled to mass spectrometry. Several differentially expressed proteins were identified, some of which were validated by real-time quantitative RT-PCR. The differentially expressed proteins were mapped onto Ingenuity Pathway Analysis canonical pathways, to construct a possible protein–protein interacting network regulated by epinecidin-1; this network suggested a potential role of epinecindin-1 in cytoskeletal assembly and organization. Our findings imply that epinecidin-1 may stabilize the cytoskeleton network in host cells, thereby promoting resistance to bacterial infection.     

Stage-related alterations in renal cell carcinoma--comprehensive quantitative analysis by 2D-DIGE and protein network analysis

Renal cell carcinoma accounts for about 3% of adult malignancies and 85% of neoplasms arising from the kidney. To identify potential progression markers for kidney cancer we examined non-neoplastic and neoplastic kidney tissue from three groups of patients, which represent different tumor stages (pT1, pT2, pT3) by a fluorescence two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) approach combined with MALDI-ToF-MS/MS. Delta2D software package was used for gel image based quantification and statistical analysis. Thereby, a comprehensive Principal Component Analysis (PCA) could be performed and allowed a robust quality control of the experiment as well as a classification of the analyzed samples, which correlated with the predicted stages from the pathological examination. Additionally for selected candidate proteins we detected a correlation to the tumor grading as revealed by immunohistochemistry. On the 2D protein map 176 spots out of 989 were detected as at least 2-fold differentially expressed. These spots were analyzed by MALDI-ToF-MS/MS and 187 different proteins were identified. The functional clustering of the identified proteins revealed ten groups. Within these groups we found 86 enzymes, 63 proteins of unknown function, 14 transporter, 8 peptidases and 7 kinases. From the systems biology approach we could map many of these proteins in major pathways involved in remodelling of cytoskeleton, mitochondrial dysfunctions and changes in lipid metabolism. Due to complexity of the highly interconnected pathway network, further expression and functional validation of these proteins might provide new insights in kidney cancer progression to design novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.     

Proteomic analysis of infiltrating ductal carcinoma tissues by coupled 2-D DIGE/MS/MS analysis

There is a growing interest in protein expression profiling aiming to identify novel diagnostic markers in breast cancer. Proteomic approaches such as two-dimensional differential gel electrophoresis coupled with tandem mass spectrometry analysis (2-D DIGE/MS/MS) have been used successfully for the identification of candidate biomarkers for screening, diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of treatment response in various types of cancer. Identifying previously unknown proteins of potential clinical relevance will ultimately help in reaching effective ways to manage the disease. We analyzed breast cancer tissues from five tumor and five normal tissue samples from ten breast cancer subjects with infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IDC) by 2-D DIGE using two types of immobilized pH gradient (IPG) strips: pH 3-10 and pH 4-7. From all the spots detected, differentially expressed (p < 0.05 and ratio > 2) were 50 spots. Of these, 39 proteins were successfully identified by MS, representing 29 different proteins. Ten proteins were overexpressed in the tumor samples. The 2-D DIGE/MS/MS analysis revealed an increase in the expression levels in tumor samples of several proteins not previously associated with breast cancer, such as: macrophage-capping protein (CAPG), phosphomannomutase 2 (PMM2), ATPase ASN1, methylthioribose-1-phosphate isomerase (MRI1), peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase FKBP4, cellular retinoic acid-binding protein 2 (CRABP2), lamin B1 and keratin, type II cytoskeletal 8 (KRT8). Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) revealed highly significant (p = 10(-26)) interactions between the identified proteins and their association with cancer. These proteins are involved in many diverse pathways and have established roles in cellular metabolism. It remains the goal of future work to test the suitability of the identified proteins in samples of larger and independent patient groups.     

Application of isotope coded affinity tag (ICAT) analysis for the identification of differentially expressed proteins following infection of atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) with infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) or Renibacterium salmoninarum (BKD)

Aquaculture and commercial fisheries worldwide suffer from significant economic loss due to diseases of net-pen reared fish. In British Columbia, infectious hematopoietic necrosis (IHN) and bacterial kidney disease (BKD) epidemics occur because there are currently no commercially available drugs or fully licensed vaccines to treat these diseases. With a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying these diseases, this circumstance might be significantly improved. In the present study, we have used a proteomics approach in an effort to identify and quantitate differentially expressed proteins in the liver and kidneys of diseased and healthy Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Isotope coded affinity tagging (ICAT), 2D gel electrophoresis, and multidimensional liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (2D-LC MS/MS) were used to identify hundreds of differentially expressed proteins. While the direct significance of changes in expression levels of many proteins remains to be elucidated, others appear to be more clearly related to the infectious process. Examples of the latter are discussed here and include, a natural killer cell enhancement factor (NKEF), procathepsin L, superoxide-producing NADPH oxidase and interferon-induced viral resistance protein Mx (IFI-Mx).     

Proteomic analysis of cervical cancer cells treated with suberonylanilide hydroxamic acid

Suberonylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) is an orally administered histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACI) that has shown significant antitumour activity in a variety of tumour cells. To identify proteins involved in its antitumour activity, we utilized a proteomic approach to reveal protein expression changes in the human cervical cancer cell line HeLa following SAHA treatment. Protein expression profiles were analysed by 2-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and protein identification was performed on a MALDI-Q-TOF MS/MS instrument. As a result, a total of nine differentially expressed proteins were visualized by 2-DE and Coomassie brilliant blue (CBB) staining. Further, all the changed proteins were positively identified via mass spectrometry (MS)/MS analysis. Of these, PGAM1 was significantly downregulated in HeLa cells after treatment with SAHA. Moreover, PGAM1 has been proven to be downregulated in another cervical cancer cell line (CaSki) by western blot analysis. Together, using proteomic tools, we identified several differentially expressed proteins that underwent SAHA-induced apoptosis. These changed proteins may provide some clues to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying SAHA-induced apoptosis in cervical cancer.     

Proteomic response to sublethal cadmium exposure in a sentinel fish species, Cottus gobio

The present study aimed at evaluating the toxicity of short-term cadmium (Cd) exposure in the European bullhead Cottus gobio, a candidate sentinel species. Several enzymatic activity assays (citrate synthase, cytochrome c oxidase, and lactate dehydrogenase) were carried out in liver and gills of fish exposed to 0.01, 0.05, 0.25, and 1 mg Cd/L for 4 days. Exposure to high Cd concentrations significantly altered the activity of these enzymes either in liver and/or in gills. Second, 2D-DIGE technique was used to identify proteins differentially expressed in tissues of fish exposed to either 0.01 or 1 mg Cd/L. Fifty-four hepatic protein spots and 37 branchial protein spots displayed significant changes in abundance in response to Cd exposure. A total of 26 and 12 different proteins were identified using nano LC-MS/MS in liver and gills, respectively. The identified differentially expressed proteins can be categorized into diverse functional classes, related to metabolic process, general stress response, protein fate, and cell structure for instance. This work provides new insights into the biochemical and molecular events in Cd-induced toxicity in fish and suggests that further studies on the identified proteins could provide crucial information to better understand the mechanisms of Cd toxicity in fish.     

激光捕获显微切割技术结合18O标记定量蛋白质组技术在胃癌标志物筛查中的应用研究

建立一种更加精确地分离鉴定胃癌特异肿瘤标志物的定量蛋白质组学技术．首先采用激光捕获显微切割技术(LCM)纯化胃腺癌细胞及胃黏膜良性上皮细胞,将裂解的样本总蛋白经过1D SDS-PAGE预分离,然后采用¹⁸O/¹⁶O分别标记两种样本酶切后的多肽混合物．结合纳升级液相色谱(Nano-HPLC-MS/MS)定量地鉴定胃癌细胞和胃黏膜良性上皮细胞的差异表达蛋白．共筛选出78个差异表达蛋白,其中42个蛋白质在胃癌组织中表达上调,36个蛋白质下调．Western blot 技术验证了其中几个差异蛋白(moesin, periostin, annexin A2, annexin A4)的表达,与蛋白质组学研究的结果一致．LCM技术结合¹⁸O稳定同位素标记的定量蛋白质组学技术,为研究胃癌发生机制、筛选胃癌的分子标志物提供了新的思路,亦为诸如胃癌等复杂体系蛋白质的分离鉴定提供了新的技术选择．     

A Bayesian model for classifying all differentially expressed proteins simultaneously in 2D PAGE gels

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D PAGE) is commonly used to identify differentially expressed proteins under two or more experimental or observational conditions. Wu et al (2009) developed a univariate probabilistic model which was used to identify differential expression between Case and Control groups, by applying a Likelihood Ratio Test (LRT) to each protein on a 2D PAGE. In contrast to commonly used statistical approaches, this model takes into account the two possible causes of missing values in 2D PAGE: either (1) the non-expression of a protein; or (2) a level of expression that falls below the limit of detection. RESULTS: We develop a global Bayesian model which extends the previously described model. Unlike the univariate approach, the model reported here is able treat all differentially expressed proteins simultaneously. Whereas each protein is modelled by the univariate likelihood function previously described, several global distributions are used to model the underlying relationship between the parameters associated with individual proteins. These global distributions are able to combine information from each protein to give more accurate estimates of the true parameters. In our implementation of the procedure, all parameters are recovered by Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) integration. The 95% highest posterior density (HPD) intervals for the marginal posterior distributions are used to determine whether differences in protein expression are due to differences in mean expression intensities, and/or differences in the probabilities of expression. CONCLUSIONS: Simulation analyses showed that the global model is able to accurately recover the underlying global distributions, and identify more differentially expressed proteins than the simple application of a LRT. Additionally, simulations also indicate that the probability of incorrectly identifying a protein as differentially expressed (i.e., the False Discovery Rate) is very low. The source code is available at https://github.com/stevenhwu/BIDE-2D.     

Serum proteome analysis of vivax malaria: An insight into the disease pathogenesis and host immune response

Vivax malaria is the most widely distributed human malaria resulting in 80-300 million clinical cases every year. It causes severe infection and mortality but is generally regarded as a benign disease and has not been investigated in detail. The present study aimed to perform human serum proteome analysis in a malaria endemic area in India to identify potential serum biomarkers for vivax malaria and understand host response. The proteomic analysis was performed on 16 age and gender matched subjects (vivax patients and control) in duplicate. Protein extraction protocols were optimized for large coverage of the serum proteome and to obtain high-resolution data. Identification of 67 differentially expressed and statistically significant (Student's t-test; p<0.05) protein spots was established by MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry. Many of the identified proteins such as apolipoprotein A and E, serum amyloid A and P, haptoglobin, ceruloplasmin, and hemopexin are interesting from a diagnostic point of view and could further be studied as potential serum biomarkers. The differentially expressed serum proteins in vivax malaria identified in this study were subjected to functional pathway analysis using multiple software, including Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA), Protein ANalysis THrough Evolutionary Relationships (PANTHER) and Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) functional annotation tool for better understanding of the biological context of the identified proteins, their involvement in various physiological pathways and association with disease pathogenesis. Functional pathway analysis of the differentially expressed proteins suggested the modulation of multiple vital physiological pathways, including acute phase response signaling, complement and coagulation cascades, hemostasis and vitamin D metabolism pathway due to this parasitic infection. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Proteomics: The clinical link.     

Characterization of the proteins of bacterial strain isolated from contaminated site involved in heavy metal resistance--a proteomic approach

The present study describes response of a bacterial strain isolated from a polluted river to heavy metal toxicity. The bacterium was identified to be Klebsiella pneumoniae by biochemical tests using API 20E strips and 16S ribotyping. The isolate was studied for its tolerance to two heavy metals, i.e., cobalt (Co(2+)) and lead (Pb(2+)) by growing it in citrate mineral medium (CMM). Proteomic approach involving two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D PAGE) and mass spectrometry (MS) was used to identify the differentially expressed proteins under heavy metal stress. Two of the differentially expressed proteins were identified to be l-isoaspartate protein carboxymethyltransferase type II and DNA gyrase A. To our knowledge, this is for the first time that K. pneumoniae has been reported to be present in metal contaminated site and l-isoaspartate protein carboxymethyltransferase type II protein to be over expressed under heavy metal stress. The role of these proteins in metal tolerance is discussed.     

Pilot and feasibility study: comparative proteomic analysis by 2-DE MALDI TOF/TOF MS reveals 14-3-3 proteins as putative biomarkers of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in ER-positive breast cancer

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is used to treat oestrogen receptor-positive breast cancer however chemo-resistance is a major obstacle in this molecular subtype. The ability to predict tumour response would allow chemotherapy administration to be directed towards patients who would most benefit, thus maximising treatment efficacy. We aimed to identify protein biomarkers associated with response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, in a pilot study using comparative 2-DE MALDI TOF/TOF MS proteomic analysis of breast tumour samples. A total of 3 comparative proteomic experiments were performed, comparing protein expression between chemotherapy-sensitive and chemotherapy-resistant oestrogen receptor-positive invasive ductal carcinoma tissue samples. This identified a list of 132 unique proteins that were significantly differentially expressed (≥ 2 fold) in chemotherapy resistant samples, 57 of which were identified in at least two experiments. Ingenuity? Pathway Analysis was used to map the 57 DEPs onto canonical signalling pathways. We implicate several isoforms of 14-3-3 family proteins (theta/tau, gamma, epsilon, beta/alpha and zeta/delta), which have previously been associated with chemotherapy resistance in breast cancer. Extensive clinical validation is now required to fully assess the role of these proteins as putative markers of chemotherapy response in luminal breast cancer subtypes.     

蛋白质组学技术对不同性别中国美利奴细毛羊(军垦型) 皮肤差异蛋白的筛选

旨在了解性别因素对绵羊毛性状的影响。以周岁雄性和雌性中国美利奴羊（军垦型）为研究对象,利用液相色谱-串联质谱联用技术和数据非依赖性采集策略的定量蛋白质组学技术筛选皮肤组织差异表达蛋白,并对筛选获得的差异蛋白进行基因本体（gene ontology,GO）功能注释、京都基因与基因组百科全书（Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes,KEGG）代谢通路和蛋白互作分析。结果显示,共计筛选获得差异表达蛋白674种,其中,280种蛋白表达上调,394种蛋白表达下调;通过进一步分析发现,与皮肤毛囊发育及羊毛表型相关的差异蛋白有43种,上调差异蛋白30种,下调差异蛋白13种。GO注释结果显示,在分子功能方面,差异蛋白在氧结合、硫酸软骨素结合、亚铁血红素结合、谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶活性和转运活性等37个过程显著富集;在生物过程方面,差异蛋白在细胞氧化解毒作用、肌肉收缩调节、Notch信号通路、钙离子跨膜转运和谷胱甘肽新陈代谢等120个过程显著富集;在细胞组分方面,主要富集在肥大细胞颗粒、细胞核、肌质网状组织和内质网等31个过程。KEGG通路结果表明,这些差异蛋白涉及16条信号通路,其中,MAPK、P53信号通路和羊毛生长发育密切相关。蛋白质网络互作结果显示,COL1A1蛋白与MMP2、SPARC、THBS1等差异表达蛋白联系较为紧密,其可能在羊毛生长发育过程中发挥着关键作用。本研究为揭示不同性别绵羊毛性状的分子机制积累了基础数据。     

Comparative proteomics and correlated signaling network of rat hippocampus in the pilocarpine model of temporal lobe epilepsy

In temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), the seizure origin typically involves the hippocampal formation. The pilocarpine-induced TLE provides a model to investigate the molecular and functional characterization of epileptogenesis by mimicking the human epileptic condition. Here, we employed a 2-D gel-based proteomic technique to profile proteome changes in the rat hippocampus after pilocarpine treatment. Using MALDI MS and MS/MS, 57 differentially expressed proteins were identified, which were found either up-regulated and/or down-regulated at the two time points 12 h (acute period; Ap) and 72 h (silent period; Sp) compared with the control. These proteins can be related to underlying mechanism of pilocarpine-induced TLE, indicating cytoskeleton modification, altered synaptic function, mitochondrial dysfunction, changed ion channel, and chaperone. Five of the identified proteins, synaptosomal-associated protein 25 (SNAP25), synapsin-2 (SYN2), homer protein homolog 2 (HOMER2), alpha-internexin (INA), and voltage-dependent anion channel 2 (VDAC2) were investigated by semiquantitative RT-PCR, and SNAP25 and INA were further validated by Western blot and immunohistochemistry staining. Furthermore, association of these pilocarpine-induced proteins with biological functions using the Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) tool showed that nucleic acid metabolism, system development, tissue and cell morphology were significantly altered. IPA of the canonical networks indicated that six membrane proteins (e.g., SNAP25, SYN2, and HOMER2) participated in three biological networks as starting proteins. Our results offer a clue to identify biomarkers for the development of pharmacological therapies targeted at epilepsy.     

LCM纯化的人支气管上皮癌变各阶段组织的定量蛋白质组学研究

为分析支气管上皮癌变进程中的差异表达蛋白质,筛选肺鳞癌早期诊断标志物,以人支气管上皮癌变各阶段组织为研究对象,先采用激光捕获显微切割技术(LCM) 纯化人正常支气管上皮组织、鳞状化生、不典型增生、原位癌、浸润性肺鳞癌组织,再用同位素标记相对和绝对定量 (iTRAQ) 技术结合二维液相色谱串联质谱（2D LC-MS/MS）鉴定支气管上皮癌变进程中各阶段的差异表达蛋白质。结果共鉴定了1036个蛋白质,筛选出102个与人支气管上皮癌变相关的差异蛋白质,在这些差异蛋白质中,有的在支气管上皮癌变过程中进行性上调,有的在支气管上皮癌变过程中进行性下调,有的呈阶段特异性改变;功能分析表明,这些差异蛋白质涉及代谢、细胞凋亡、增殖、分化、信号传导、转录、翻译、细胞粘附、免疫反应与发育等。Western blotting 及免疫组织化学技术验证了其中 2个差异蛋白(S100A9和 CKB) 的表达,证实了定量蛋白质组学结果的可靠性。研究结果提示：这些差异表达蛋白质与支气管上皮癌变相关,并可成为肺鳞癌的早期诊断标志物,进一步研究差异蛋白的生物学功能,将有助于阐明支气管上皮的癌变机制,从而为肺鳞癌的早期诊断与发病机制研究提供新思路。