Proteomics profiling for the global and acetylated proteins of High-Grade Serous Ovarian Carcinoma

Background High-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) is the main type of ovarian cancer with a poor prognosis. Although protein omics is widely used in HGSOC, the general situation of acetylated proteins in HGSOC is still uncertain, which is helpful to understanding the carcinogenesis mechanism and identifying useful biomarkers of HGSOC. Methods Six female patients with pathologically diagnosed HGSOC were included in the study. After six mixed extracts of whole protein and acetylated protein were prepared, 4D Label-free mass spectrometry was applied to the determination of global protein and acetylated protein. Bioinformatics analysis was carried out, including KEGG, gene ontology (GO), clustering and protein interaction. Finally, the meaningful biomarkers were screened out by multi-omics joint analysis. Results Compared with the normal tissues near the lesion, 356 proteins identified in tumor tissues were considered as differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in global protein histology, of which 124 were up-regulated and 232 were down-regulated, and 57 were differentially expressed acetylated proteins (DEAPs) in acetylated protein histology, including 29 up-regulated and 2 down-regulated, respectively. DEPs protein in cytosol accounts for the highest proportion, and CTF/NFI is the largest transcription factor family in DEPs. Joint analysis showed that differential proteins and their acetylation were mainly related to metabolic pathways, which were up-regulated in tumors. Conclusions This study will combine global protein omics with acetylated protein omics, which will provide a broader perspective for protein to change its view on carcinogenesis, as well as provide a new direction for selecting biomarkers for diagnosing HGSOC.