2Russian State Medical University, ul. Ostrovityanova 1, 117997 Moscow, Russia
* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received August 31, 2005
One of the problems of plasma proteomics is a presence of large major components. In this work, we use the thermostable fraction as a way to deplete these major proteins. The thermostable fraction of serum samples from patients with ovarian, uterus, and breast cancers and benign ovarian tumor was analyzed using two-dimensional electrophoresis combined with MALDI-TOF(-TOF)-mass spectrometry. Of them, alpha-1-acid glycoprotein and clusterin are expressly down-regulated in breast cancer, whereas transthyretin is decreased specifically in ovarian cancer. Apolipoprotein A-I forms have decreased spot volumes, while haptoglobin alpha1, in contrast, is elevated in several tumors. These data are partly consistent with previous art studies on cancer proteomics, which involve mass-spectrometry-based serum profiling techniques. Serum thermostable fraction may be recommended as a good tool for medium and small protein proteome investigation, in particular, by 2D-electrophoresis.
KEY WORDS: serum thermostable fraction, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, two-dimensional (2D) electrophoresis, proteomicsDOI: 10.1134/S000629790604002X