Spatial differentiation of proteome in cervical cancer tissues using Imaging Mass Spectrometry

Cervical cancer, which is the fourth most common gynaecological cancer across the globe, has a poorly understood molecular pathogenesis and etiology. Current methods of diagnosis are based on cytology, histology and presence of Human Papillomavirus (HPV). Shortcomings of these methods lie with poor quality of smears which is very common in Papanicolaou (pap) smears, limited sensitivity in terms of early detection, dependence on presence of HPV, etc. Due to its high sensitivity and non-targeted approach, Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization based Imaging Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-IMS) might be advantageous to understand the pathogenesis, molecular mechanism, precise identification of surgical margins and identification of novel biomarkers. Since it can also identify proteins in the extracellular matrix, it is especially beneficial for the tissue types with sparse cells and excessive extracellular matrix. Although tissue proteome profiling for cervical cancer were reported, the heterogeneous distribution of proteins across cervical cancer tissues haven’t been explored. In this study, we employed a non-targeted MALDI-IMS based approach to profile the spatial distribution of proteins within cervical cancer tissues. We observed overexpression of Keratin 5 and Prelamin A/C in the region of cervical cancer tissues which were categorically labelled with cancerous morphology using histopathological examination. Both these proteins have been earlier associated with progression and aggressiveness of other cancers like breast and prostate cancers. However, no such reports are available for cervical cancer. Further studies are required on a large dataset to validate and quantitate these proteins as biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis of cervical cancer.