Proteome analysis of cartilage endplate in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

Abstract

Objective To identify protein expression in asymmetrically developed intervertebral discs of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients and try to find out factors that may originate or strengthen the deformity situation. Methods The apex intervertebral discs were harvested from 6 AIS patients during anterior spinal correction surgery procedure. Proteins in cartilage endplate were extracted and we used shotgun strategy to achieve proteomics investigation, the proteins were classified and their functions were investigated. Results Average protein consistency is 3.02 mg/ml, which was tested through Bradford procedure. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) shows that both species and consistency of the proteins from convex side were higher than that from the concave side. More than 100 proteins were identified from the convex sample, and over 60 proteins were identified from concave side, 58 proteins were found to only express in convex side and 10 in concave side. Conclusion Based on the physiological role, the identified proteins in cartilage endplate from AIS patients were classified preliminarily. Some proteins identified only in convex or concave side were strongly believed to play important roles in contribution to asymmetrically developed apex cartilage endplate and related intervertebral discs.