Secretomic analysis of large cell lung cancer cell lines using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis coupled to mass spectrometry.

The secretome of cancer cells is a valuable source of biomarkers that can ultimately reach the serum or other body fluids. Cancer biomarkers can facilitate early diagnosis and monitoring of the disease, contribute to our understanding of tumor biology, and support the development of more efficient therapies. Recently, high-throughput proteomic analysis of the conditioned media of cancer cell lines has shown potential to identify novel biomarkers in cancer. We used two-dimensional gel electrophoresis coupled to liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry to identify the secretome of the large cell lung cancer cell lines QU-DB and Mehr-80, which they were established from a Canadian and a Persian patient, respectively. A total of 130 distinct protein species were identified. Of these, 124 were previously found in serum or other body fluids, the membrane compartment or conditioned media of other cancer cell lines. Some of the proteins that we identified, e.g. IL-6, triosephosphate isomerase, PGP9.5, α-enolase, Dickkopf-1, and peroxiredoxin-1 are known putative serum markers for lung cancer, whereas others might be candidate markers for further validation in lung cancer body fluids such as IL-25, stathmin, vimentin, peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase A, transgelin-2, and chloride intracellular channel protein 4.