Label-free proteomic analysis and functional analysis in patients with intrauterine adhesion

• Published in: Journal of proteomics Vol. 277; p. 104854
• Main Authors: Ye, Jingxuan, Li, Yong, Kong, Chengcai, Ren, Yiwen, Lu, Hangcheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 15.04.2023
• Subjects: Biomarkers - metabolism; Endometrium; Endometrium - metabolism; Female; Fibrosis; Humans; Intrauterine adhesion; Label-free proteomics; Parallel reaction monitoring; Proteomics; Quality of Life; Tissue Adhesions - genetics; Tissue Adhesions - pathology; Tissue Adhesions - therapy; Uterine Diseases - metabolism; Uterine Diseases - pathology; Uterine Diseases - therapy; Intrauterine adhesion; Parallel reaction monitoring; Endometrium; Fibrosis; Label-free proteomics
• ISSN: 1874-3919; 1876-7737
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jprot.2023.104854

Intrauterine adhesion (IUA) is one of the principal causes of secondary infertility in women of reproductive age, which seriously affects female reproductive function and quality of life. In recent years, the incidence of IUA has been increasing year by year, but its pathological mechanism has not yet been clarified. This study intended to reveal the pathogenesis of IUA and find new therapeutic targets by analyzing the proteomic differences between intrauterine adhesion tissues and normal human endometrial tissues. In the label-free quantitative proteomics, we identified 789 up-regulated differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) and 539 down-regulated DEPs. These DEPs were further analyzed by Gene Ontology (GO) annotation and enrichment analysis, Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis to preliminarily clarify the biomarkers involved in the pathogenesis of the IUA. The DEPs were further verified by parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) to confirm the results of proteomics. Finally, 7 target proteins may be candidates for treatment and elucidating the pathophysiology of IUA. IUA is a fertility complication, which has increasing incidence recently. Until now, only a little research paid attention to the proteomic changes of IUA. This is the first study focused on the comparative analysis of endometrial tissue between IUA patients and normal women. We found 7 key proteins that may become the potential biomarkers of IUA. [Display omitted] •IUA involves focal adhesion, regulation of actin cytoskeleton, and other KEGG pathways.•The key KEGG pathways include biological processes, such as regulation of ion transport and cell junction assembly. Again, the molecular functions, such as actin binding and GTPase activity all enriched in the crucial KEGG pathways.•Most of the proteins related to IUA verified by PRM have not been studied in depth.•The results of PRM verification are highly consistent with the bioinformatics analysis in IUA.