Proteomic analysis of nasal cells from cystic fibrosis patients and non-cystic fibrosis control individuals: search for novel biomarkers of cystic fibrosis lung disease.

Potential biological markers for cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease were identified by comparative proteomics profiling of nasal cells from deletion of phenylalanine residue 508 (F508del)-homozygous CF patients and non-CF controls. From the non-CF 2-DE gels, 65 spots were identified by MS, and a reference 2-DE map was thus established. The majority of those correspond to ubiquitously expressed proteins. Consistent with the epithelial origin of this tissue, some of the identified proteins are epithelial markers (e.g. cytokeratins, palate lung and nasal epithelium clone protein (PLUNC), and squamous cell carcinoma antigen 1). Comparison of this protein profile with the one similarly obtained for CF nasal cells revealed a set of differentially expressed proteins. These included proteins related to chronic inflammation and some others involved in oxidative stress injury. Alterations were also observed in the levels of cytoskeleton proteins, being probably implicated with cytoskeleton organization changes described to occur in CF-airways. Lower levels were found for some mitochondrial proteins suggesting an altered mitochondrial metabolism in CF. Differential expression was also found for two more enzymes that have not been previously associated to CF. Further studies will clarify the involvement of such proteins in CF pathophysiology and whether they are targets for CF therapy.