Screening of differential serum proteins in patients with hepatic injury resulting from coal-burning type of arsenism

Abstract

Objective To identify the differential serum proteins in patients with hepatic injury resulting from coal-burning type of arsenism. Methods Six serum samples were collected from patients with liver injury resulting from coal-burning type of arsenism and healthy subjects（control gruop） in endemic arsenism area. Twodimensional gel electrophoresis（2-DE） was performed to separate serum proteins, after silver staining, the differential expression of proteins were analyzed and then identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry（MALDI-TOF-MS）. Results The 2-DE map of serum protein patterns of patients and normal control were established successfully. The results showed that there were an average of （824 ± 31 ） spots and （782 ± 42） spots on 2-DE matching of the patients and control groups and the matching rate was 94.9%（782/824）. From these two groups 49 differential protein spots were identified, of which over 3 times the difference in the expression of 30 protein spots were singled out and MALDI-TOF-MS analysis was carried out. Ten proteins were identified. Upregulated expression was observed in alpha-2-macroglobulin, B-cell receptor-associated protein, keratin 1,apolipoprotein A-I, and down-regulated expression was observed in haptoglobin, α2-heremans-schimid-glycoprotein,mitogen-activated protein kinase 4, zinc finger protein 323, ZAP-70 and SP40 in the patient group. Conclusions The well-resolved and reproducible 2-DE serum patterns of patients are established and some differentially expressed proteins are characterized. Whether these proteins of differential expression are serum markers for liver injury resulting from coal-burning type of arsenism need to be further verified. Key words: Arsenic poisoning; Liver injury; Serum; Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis; Proteome