Methods: Normal serum controls (NO; n = 30) from healthy volunteers and lung cancer patients (LC; n = 30) were acquired from a commercial vendor. Baseline pre-treatment) serum specimens from individuals with asthma (AST; n = 28) and lung cancer risk (LCR; n = 73) were available from clinical trials of two novel agents that are being developed by JBNI Inc. Serum proteins were analyzed using liquid chromatography electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESIMS MS) to identify biomarkers that are expressed in a significantly different manner in individuals with LC, LCR, or AST in comparison with NO subjects. Specimens were digested with trypsin and analyzed by LC-ESIMS. Data were analyzed using Mascot search software.
Results: We have identified a number of heretofore unrecognized differentially expressed proteins in LC, LCR and AST samples relative to NO samples. The identified proteins include putative expressed proteins identified in prior genetic sequencing efforts, several patented proteins having functions that have not been described in the literature, a protein involved in intracytoplasmic protein membrane anchorage, a proteasome component, cellular immune response, as well as several MHC associated proteins.
Conclusions: Our results support an extended MS analysis of serum biomarker profiles as a supplementary tool in the identification of target molecules and systems for the subsequent application of quantitative validation techniques for the identification and molecular characterization of the condition and development of novel agents for prevention, early detection and treatment of LC.
