Feifan Shi1, Yihe Fu2, Junzhi Wang1, Lie Li3, Ailing Wang1, Yuan Yuan1, Huajun Luo1, Haibo He1, Gaigai Deng1. 1. Hubei Key Laboratory of Natural Products Research and Development, College of Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, Hubei 443002, China. 2. Three Gorges food and drug inspection and Testing Center, Yichang, Hubei 443000, China. 3. Yichang Humanwell Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Yichang, Hubei 443000, China.
Abstract
Our previous studies have demonstrated that trametenolic acid B (TAB) extracted from the Laetiporus sulphureus (Fr.) Murrill owned effective anti-proliferation of HepG2/2.215 cells and induced autophagy activity. The present aim was to further investigate its mechanisms involved by proteomic analysis. The iTRAQ of TAB on HepG2/2.215 was carried out and the western blot was used to verify the results of the proteomics analysis. According to the peptide segment quantitative standard (FDR ≤ 1%), a total of 5324 proteins were identified in HepG2/2.215 by proteomic analysis. The results identified that the major up-regulated proteins were HSP90AA4P, MYB, SERPINE1, and down-regulated proteins were Rho C, SERPINA1, and PIK3R4, which were related to PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, cell metastasis, and autophagy. HSP90AA4P and Rho C's proteomics analysis were further confirmed by the western blot. The proteomic results demonstrated that the anti-hematoma effect of TAB was closely related to the increase of HSP90AA4P protein expressions and autophagy, which may be a critical target of TAB, which was expected to be a candidate drug for the treatment liver cancer.
Our previous studies have demonstrated that trametenolic acid B (TAB) extracted from the Laetiporus sulphureus (Fr.) Murrill owned effective anti-proliferation of HepG2/2.215 cells and induced autophagy activity. The present aim was to further investigate its mechanisms involved by proteomic analysis. The iTRAQ of TAB on HepG2/2.215 was carried out and the western blot was used to verify the results of the proteomics analysis. According to the peptide segment quantitative standard (FDR ≤ 1%), a total of 5324 proteins were identified in HepG2/2.215 by proteomic analysis. The results identified that the major up-regulated proteins were HSP90AA4P, MYB, SERPINE1, and down-regulated proteins were Rho C, SERPINA1, and PIK3R4, which were related to PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, cell metastasis, and autophagy. HSP90AA4P and Rho C's proteomics analysis were further confirmed by the western blot. The proteomic results demonstrated that the anti-hematoma effect of TAB was closely related to the increase of HSP90AA4P protein expressions and autophagy, which may be a critical target of TAB, which was expected to be a candidate drug for the treatment liver cancer.
Hepatocellular
carcinoma (HCC) is one of the malignant tumors that
seriously threaten human health worldwide.[1] The incidence of HCC is related to many factors, such as hepatitis
virus infection, alcoholism, smoking, environmental pollution, aflatoxin,
and so on.[2] Most patients with HCC are
already in the middle and advanced stages when they are discovered.
Although the five year survival rate can reach 80% or even more than
90% after surgery for very early stage liver cancerpatients, whose
tumor mass was less than 2 cm, the five year recurrence rate is as
high as 70%.[3,4] Therefore, drug treatment is crucial
for HCC. However, for both traditional chemotherapy and targeted therapy,
the efficacy is severely decreased because of drug resistance. Even
for Sorafenib, the first-line molecule-targeting drug, its efficacy
has been negatively affected due to the emergence of drug resistance.[5,6] Therefore, it is of great significance to find more efficient therapeutic
drugs for hepatocellular carcinoma.Proteome refers to all proteins
translated and transcribed by a
cell or tissue or even a biological genetic information in a specific
period, which does not only include the proteins directly translated
and transcribed by the genome, but also the modified proteins after
transcription and translation.[7] Traditional
research methods mainly focus on a single protein, but it cannot get
all the protein information of an organism, tissue, or cell. In recent
years, the relative and absolute quantitative technique of isotope
labeling (iTRAQ) is a new quantitative technique of proteomics, which
can accurately quantify and identify all proteins expressed in a genome
or in a complex system.[8] ITRAQ technology
can not only realize the separation and identification of proteins,
but could also qualitatively and quantitatively analyze the dynamic
changes of proteins in cells, tissues, or body fluids under different
physiological and pathological conditions, truly reflecting the comprehensive
information of cell function, process mechanism, etc.[9]Traditional Chinese medicine has the advantages of
small side effects
and good curative effects in the treatment of tumors.[10]Laetiporus sulphureus (Fr.)
Murrill is a Traditional Chinese medicine with a long history and
is safe and reliable.[11,12] Trametenolic acid B (TAB) is
a triterpenoid compound extracted from it, which has the effects of
anti-cancer, anti-gastric ulcer, hypoglycemic, and neuroprotection
functionalities.[13,14] Previous studies had shown that
TAB reversed paclitaxel resistance.[15] However,
its effect was not through apoptosis but through autophagy. Our previous
studies have demonstrated that TAB owned effective anti-proliferation
of HepG2/2.215 cells and induced autophagy activity,[16] and the current study was to further investigate the mechanism
of autophagy by proteomic analysis.
Results and Discussion
TAB-Suppressed
HepG2/2.2.15 Cell Proliferation
To assess
the influence of TAB on the cytotoxicity and proliferation on HepG2/2.2.15
cells, they were treated with TAB (10–80 μM) on HepG2/2.2.15
cells for 12 and 24 h, respectively. Following 12 and 24 h of treatment
with TAB in HepG2/2.2.15 cells, its proliferations of HepG2/2.2.15
cells were significantly depressed by 20, 40, 60, and 80 μM
TAB. The IC50 values were 46.40 and 27.31 μM for
HepG2/2.2.15 cells at 12 and 24 h, respectively. These aforementioned
results indicated that TAB had a good growth inhibitory effect on
HepG2/2.2.15 cells in a dose-dependent manner and relatively high
selectivity (Figure A). Compared with SGC7901 cells, TAB had a higher inhibition rate
on HepG2/2.2.15 cells (Figure B). For all subsequent experiments, TAB (40 μM) was
used.
Figure 1
(A) Effect of TAB on the cytotoxic in HepG2/2.2.15 cells. (B) Twenty-four
hour effect of TAB on the cytotoxic in HepG2/2.215 cells and SGC7901
cells. Data were shown as mean ± SD (n = 4).
*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 compared
with the control group.
(A) Effect of TAB on the cytotoxic in HepG2/2.2.15 cells. (B) Twenty-four
hour effect of TAB on the cytotoxic in HepG2/2.215 cells and SGC7901
cells. Data were shown as mean ± SD (n = 4).
*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 compared
with the control group.
Proteomic Differential
Protein Was Identified and Differential
Expression Protein Used in Clustering Analysis
A total of
5324 human proteins were identified by iTRAQ quantitative proteomics
analysis, and the peptide segment quantitative standard was FDR ≤
1%. In the 3 h group, there were 7 differentially expressed proteins
up-regulated and 11 differentially expressed proteins down-regulated;
in the 6 h group, there were 93 differentially expressed proteins
up-regulated and 123 differentially expressed proteins down-regulated;
in the 12 h group, there were 91 differentially expressed proteins
up-regulated and 107 differentially expressed proteins down-regulated.
Statistics of quantitative results of protein changes are displayed
in the form of volcano charts (Figure ).
Figure 2
(A) Three hour volcanic maps. (B) Six hour volcanic maps.
(C) Twelve
hour volcanic maps. The number of changed proteins in the three groups
of HepG2/2.2.15 cells treated with TAB was determined in the iTRAQ
experiment. The red dot was the significant difference expression
protein (multiple change >1.2 and P < 0.05),
and
the black dot had no difference.
(A) Three hour volcanic maps. (B) Six hour volcanic maps.
(C) Twelve
hour volcanic maps. The number of changed proteins in the three groups
of HepG2/2.2.15 cells treated with TAB was determined in the iTRAQ
experiment. The red dot was the significant difference expression
protein (multiple change >1.2 and P < 0.05),
and
the black dot had no difference.In the proteomics determination of the three time periods (3, 6,
and 12 h), the proteins of 6 h changed the most and was not much different
from 12 h, so we mainly displayed 6 h figures. Hierarchical clustering
was used to cluster the differentially expressed proteins among groups,
and the data were displayed in the form of a heatmap. As indicated
in Figure , the differentially
expressed proteins were screened by the criteria of multiple change
points greater than 1.2 times, which could effectively separate the
comparison groups (P < 0.05). It showed that the
screening of differentially expressed proteins was reasonable. Through
analysis, we found that the remarkable elevated proteins were HSP90AA4P,
MYB, and SERPINE1, and the continuous up-regulation proteins were
HSP90AA4P and SERPINA1; the significantly reduced proteins were Rho
C, SERPINA1, and PIK3R4, and the continuous down-regulation proteins
were Rho C and SERPINA1 (Figure and Tables and 2). Since HSP90AA4P and Rho C
had obvious changes and had direct influence on the development of
liver cancer, we studied the mechanism of TAB from these proteins,
which were marked in the volcanic map (Figure ).
Figure 3
Six hour group hierarchical clustering result
tree thermal map.
Each row represents a protein significantly expressed (i.e., protein
expressed differently in longitudinal coordinates), and each column
represents a group of samples (K1, K2, and K3 were the three repetitions
of the control group, and B1, B2, and B3 were the three repetitions
of the 6 h group). The scale bar on the X axis indicates
the logarithmic p value (log2) expression. The significant
difference expression protein (multiple change >1.2 and P < 0.05) were up-regulated (red) and down-regulated
(blue).
Table 1
Optimized Differentially
Expressed
Proteins of the 6 h Group (B/K: Up-Regulated > 1.5, Down-Regulated
< 0.83)
protein IDs
gene name
B/K
p value
F8WDK3
PPP4R2
1.500089006
0.048677167
A0A0F7G8J1
PLG
1.503073935
0.000208879
Q99988
GDF15
1.514167727
0.001903171
H3BRL9
NTHL1
1.519907503
0.027455871
P02751
FN1
1.588872742
0.013061431
L0R828
C1orf162
1.818890495
0.034425598
D6REL8
FGB
2.046280943
0.006190145
Q58FG1
HSP90AA4P
2.892780808
0.005527898
H7C3K1
C7orf61
2.901809599
0.038950658
H0YCN6
MYB
5.716990552
0.009060596
E9PQH6
RHOC
0.505776888
0.02464391
Q8NGA1
OR1M1
0.508998547
0.010749728
A0A024R6I7
SERPINA1
0.510066593
0.000624749
D6RAC3
PIK3R4
0.549099953
0.00212212
Q16626
MEA1
0.574744862
0.001075967
X6R9N0
PTAR1
0.578050257
0.009272024
D6RBY8
CDC23
0.585079745
0.002403597
F8W150
ANKRD13A
0.587166697
0.02756821
P04350
TUBB4A
0.588530545
0.008034129
Table 2
Optimized Differentially Expressed
Proteins of the 12 h Group (C/K: Up-Regulated > 1.5, Down-Regulated
< 0.83)
protein IDs
gene name
C/K
p value
O15439
ABCC4
1.531327818
0.020074382
Q9ULX9
MAFF
1.54381155
0.010071691
P60468
SEC61B
1.580072763
0.004671853
Q6NT15
STON2
1.58181982
0.000831852
H0YMA2
TMOD2
1.650370931
0.03471262
A4F4K3
CYP1A1
1.71120289
0.006433227
B7Z553
1.716976352
0.018910851
Q99988
GDF15
1.772384797
0.00133458
P17301
ITGA2
1.784474594
0.003342275
Q8WUJ3
CEMIP
1.852765943
0.002410563
E9M4D4
HBA1
2.048533088
0.000007
Q15742
NAB2
2.094720693
0.038209165
C9JXF9
IGFBP1
2.192015475
0.004883387
P05121
SERPINE1
2.451743869
0.000184744
Q58FG1
HSP90AA4P
9.012655171
0.038730637
E9PQH6
RHOC
0.535146891
0.032874584
Q5EC54
HNRPK
0.555578714
0.000443851
P49715
CEBPA
0.597202485
0.024468918
J3KQ66
RELN
0.626574895
0.004123722
A0A024R4P4
ZNF444
0.630660267
0.006206777
Q562M3
ACT
0.64158601
0.011433265
P20290
BTF3
0.643345699
0.04588412
O00767
SCD
0.648399493
0.000845196
E5RGR5
C8orf59
0.650300672
0.047407105
Six hour group hierarchical clustering result
tree thermal map.
Each row represents a protein significantly expressed (i.e., protein
expressed differently in longitudinal coordinates), and each column
represents a group of samples (K1, K2, and K3 were the three repetitions
of the control group, and B1, B2, and B3 were the three repetitions
of the 6 h group). The scale bar on the X axis indicates
the logarithmic p value (log2) expression. The significant
difference expression protein (multiple change >1.2 and P < 0.05) were up-regulated (red) and down-regulated
(blue).
Differential
Expression Proteins Were Used in Gene Ontology
(GO) Enriched Analysis
GO is a functional classification
system that provides a set of dynamically updated standardized vocabulary
to describe the properties of genes and gene products based on three
different perspectives, which involve biological process, molecular
function, and cellular component. GO analysis was performed at level
2. As shown in Figure A, in the analysis of the biological process (BP), the regulation
of wound healing, negative regulation of blood coagulation, regulation
of fibrinolysis and cell matrix adhesion, and other biological processes
are involved. In molecular function (MF) analysis, differential proteins
show molecular functions such as structural constituent of ribosome
and fibronectin binding. In cellular component (CC) analysis, most
of the identified proteins belong to cellular components such as ribosomes
and ribosome subunits. The process of enriching more differential
proteins mainly includes the metabolic process and cellular process.
The main functions involved are the combination function, signal conduction
function, etc. The cell components mainly involved include cells,
organelles, and cell parts (Figure B). These processes were related to proliferation,
invasion, and metastasis of liver cancer cells and also indicated
that TAB played an important role through these pathways.
Figure 4
(A) Top 20
of the GO function enrichment (color represents p value, the label above the bar chart represents the richFactor
(richFactor ≤ 1); richFactor indicates the ratio of the number
of differentially expressed proteins annotated to a GO functional
category to the number of all identified proteins annotated). (B)
Number of differentially expressed proteins related to the GO functional
classification.
(A) Top 20
of the GO function enrichment (color represents p value, the label above the bar chart represents the richFactor
(richFactor ≤ 1); richFactor indicates the ratio of the number
of differentially expressed proteins annotated to a GO functional
category to the number of all identified proteins annotated). (B)
Number of differentially expressed proteins related to the GO functional
classification.
Differential Expression
Proteins Were Used in Enrichment Analysis
Based on the KEGG Pathway
As is well known, proteins do not
perform their functions independently in organisms, but coordinate
with each other to complete a series of biochemical reactions to perform
their biological functions. Therefore, pathway analysis was the most
direct and necessary way to systematically and comprehensively understand
the biological process of cells and the mechanism of drug action.
As shown in Figure , the results of the KEGG pathway enrichment analysis (taking the
first 20 change pathways) on the differential expression of the 6
h group indicated that important pathways such as the PI3K/AKT signaling
pathway, ribosome, HTLV-1 infection, chronic myekemia leukemia, complement,
and coagulation cascades had significantly changed.
Figure 5
(A) Top 20 results of
the KEGG pathway analysis. (B) Enriched KEGG
pathways analysis. Mid-ordinate coordinates denote significantly,
abscissa denotes the number of differentially expressed proteins in
each KEGG pathway, figure color denotes the prominence of enriched
KEGG pathways (p values), and the number at the top
of the bar chart donates richFactor (richFactor ≤ 1, the richFactor
indicates the ratio of the number of differentially expressed proteins
participating in a KEGG pathway to the number of proteins participating
in that pathway among all identified proteins).
(A) Top 20 results of
the KEGG pathway analysis. (B) Enriched KEGG
pathways analysis. Mid-ordinate coordinates denote significantly,
abscissa denotes the number of differentially expressed proteins in
each KEGG pathway, figure color denotes the prominence of enriched
KEGG pathways (p values), and the number at the top
of the bar chart donates richFactor (richFactor ≤ 1, the richFactor
indicates the ratio of the number of differentially expressed proteins
participating in a KEGG pathway to the number of proteins participating
in that pathway among all identified proteins).According to the analysis results, PI3K/Akt pathway was one of
the most significant biological processes after treatment with TAB.
The PI3K/Akt signaling pathway had been demonstrated to play an important
role in regulating autophagy in cancer cells.[17] It had reported that the up-regulation of HSP90α might activate
Akt and promote metastasis.[18] However,
TAB up-regulated the expression of HSP90AA4P, but inhibited the expression
of p-Akt and affected the activity of the PI3K/Akt pathway.[14,19] The mechanism of TAB might be the result of the multitarget function,
which needed further study.
Protein Interaction Network Was Analyzed
The realizations
of this regulatory or mediating action require the binding or interaction
between proteins. It is of great significance to study the interaction
between proteins and the network formed by the interaction. In this
project, we compared the 6 h differential expression proteins of the
group to construct the protein interaction network. As shown in Figure , in the protein
interaction network, the nodes indicated the protein, and the lines
represented the interaction between proteins.
Figure 6
Protein network interaction
map (red solid frame is the protein
with higher up-threshold, while green solid frame is the protein with
higher down-threshold; the solid line represents direct interaction
and the dashed line represents indirect interaction).
Protein network interaction
map (red solid frame is the protein
with higher up-threshold, while green solid frame is the protein with
higher down-threshold; the solid line represents direct interaction
and the dashed line represents indirect interaction).The results showed that the up-regulated protein (HSP90AA4P)
was
not directly related to others, such as MYB, SERPINE1, FGB, etc. After
screening, we considered that HSP90AA4P was the most valuable target;
therefore, the research focused on HSP90AA4P. HSP90AA4P belongs to
the HSP90α protein family. The function of HSP90α was
closely related to the growth and differentiation of cancer cells.
It was reported that the increase of HSP90AA4P effectively promote
autophagy.[20−23] Meanwhile, the down-regulated proteins (Rho C, TUBB4A, SEPRINA1,
etc.) were also not directly connected with HSP90AA4P except TUBB4A,
which inferred that TAB might directly affect the expression of HSP90AA4P
and regulate the function of HSP90AA4P’s customer proteins,
such as inhibiting the ubiquitination of Beclin1, ULK1, and the degradation
of protein enzyme body, thus causing autophagy.[24,25] In addition, Rho C was associated with HSP90AA4P through two proteins
(MYO5B and ACT), but they were nonsignificant differential proteins,
so we did not discuss them carefully. According to Figure , TAB significantly decreased
Rho C in both SGC7901 and HepG2/2.215 cells, indicating that the down-regulation
of Rho C was not completely relevant to HSP90AA4P. In other words,
TAB may directly affect the expression of HSP90AA4P and Rho C, which
were both the targets of TAB. It is suggested that TAB may play the
anti-hepatoma role through multiple targets.
Figure 7
(A)Effect of TAB on the
protein expressions of HSP90AA4P, Rho C,
and LC3 in the HepG2/2.2.15 cells and SGC7901 cells. Lanes 1 and 3
were the control group, Lanes 2 and 4 were the TAB group (40uM). (B)Effect
of TAB on the protein expressions of HSP90AA4P and LC3II/I in the
HepG2/2.2.15 cells. All data were shown as mean ± SEM (n = 4). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 compared with the control group.
(A)Effect of TAB on the
protein expressions of HSP90AA4P, Rho C,
and LC3 in the HepG2/2.2.15 cells and SGC7901 cells. Lanes 1 and 3
were the control group, Lanes 2 and 4 were the TAB group (40uM). (B)Effect
of TAB on the protein expressions of HSP90AA4P and LC3II/I in the
HepG2/2.2.15 cells. All data were shown as mean ± SEM (n = 4). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 compared with the control group.
Protein Expression Verified by Western Blot Analysis
As
shown in Figure A,
TAB significantly elevated the expression of HSP90AA4P protein
in HepG2/2.2.15 cells, while HSP90AA4P was moderately elevated in
SGC7901cells, indicating that HSP90AA4P might cause the death of HepG2/2.2.15
cells, which is also partly relevant to autophagy. Recent studies
have shown that HSP90α was an important positive regulator of
autophagy.[21] It can stabilize the expression
of Beclin-1, ATG7, and ULK1 and promoted autophagy death.[26,27] TAB significantly reduced the protein expression of Rho C in HepG2/2.2.15
cells and SGC7901 cells. The results were consistent with the result
of proteomics analysis. We inferred that HSP90AA4P is an important
target on the anti-hepatoma mechanism. Previous studies have shown
that HSP90α may promote cell migration,[28] while if the decrease of Rho C would overcome this question needed
further study.[29,30] The result of LC3 also showed
that HSP90AA4P was associated with autophagy.As shown in Figure B, TAB significantly
elevated the expression of HSP90AA4P and LC3II/I proteins in HepG2/2.2.15
cells. The results indicated that autophagy was related to the up-regulation
of HSP90AA4P in HepG2/2.2.15 cells. Meanwhile, 17AAG, the N-terminal
inhibitor of HSP90α could inhibit the up-regulation of HSP90AA4P
with TAB. Based on the previous study, TAB could inhibit the activity
of H+/K+- ATPase,[16] which inferred that TAB may bind to the N-terminal ATP binding region
of HSP90α and thus activated heat shock reaction by negative
feedback regulation and induced the up-regulation of HSP90AA4P expression.
It was also necessary to further determine the effect of HSP90AA4P
expression induced by TAB on the function of related proteins through
proteomic studies of phosphorylation, so as to determine the specific
mechanism of TAB against liver cancer.The results showed that
HSP90α accelerated autophagic death
of tumor cells. We also found that a certain dose of TAB could induce
autophagic death of hepatoma cells, which suggested that the expression
of HSP90AA4P induced by TAB could promote autophagic death of cancer
cells, which might be a new method for the treatment of hepatoma.TAB had a great growth inhibitory effect on HepG2/2.2.15 cells.
Our results first demonstrated that TAB caused autophagy and death
of cancer cells, which may be related to the up-regulation of HSP90AA4P
and other proteins. TAB led to the down-regulation of Rho C and other
proteins, which may help inhibit the metastasis of cancer cells. The
anti-hepatoma effect may be due to the multiple targets of TAB.
Materials and Methods
Chemicals and Reagents
MEM medium,
phosphate buffered
saline (PBS), trypsin, penicillin and streptomycin, dimethyl sulfoxide
(DMSO), and fetal bovine serum were obtained from Gibco Company (Carlsbad
CA, USA); trypsin and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium
bromide (MTT) were purchased from Sigma Company (St. Louis, MO, USA);
ITRAQ Kit was obtained from AB SCIEX Company (Washington, USA); sodium
pyruvate (NaP) and nonessential amino acids (NEAA) were purchased
from McLean Biochemical Technology Co., Ltd. (Shanghai, China); G418
(neomicina) was obtained from Soleboard Technology Co., Ltd. (Beijing,
China); and BCA Kit was obtained from Biyuntian Company (Nanjing,
China). All other chemicals were of analytical grade.
Cell Culture
Humanhepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2/2.2.15)
were obtained from Kebai Biological Co., Ltd. (Nanjing, China), and
the HepG2/2.2.15 cells (1 × 105 cells/well) were grown
in an MEM medium containing 10% FBS and 1% antibiotic (100 μg/mL
streptomycin and 100 units/mL penicillin) at 37 °C in a humidified
5% CO2 atmosphere. Cell growth was observed daily, and
the experiments were performed when the monolayer cells were attached
to an adherent level of about 80%. TAB was dissolved in DMSO, and
finally, 10 mM was prepared for cell experiments. When in use, the
culture medium is diluted to the required concentration.
Cell Viability
Assay
HepG2/2.215 cells were seeded
in a 96-well plate for 12 h and then treated with TAB (10.0, 20.0,
40.0, 60.0, and 80.0 μM) continuously for 12 and 24 h. After
the end of culture, the MTT assay was also used to assess the proliferation
of TAB on the HepG2/2.215 cells. The experiment was repeated four
times to calculate the inhibition rate of TAB on cell proliferation.
With this approach, drug dosage suitable for proteomic determination
was selected.
Schematic Flow Chart of TAB Acted on Screening
Proteins in HepG2/2.2.15
Cells
The mechanism of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is
complex and uncertain. Based on the proteomic analysis of iTRAQ markers,
we determined the differentially changed proteins and their pathways
under the action mechanism of drugs. The flow chart is shown in Figure .
Figure 8
Schematic flow chart
of TAB that acted on screening proteins in
HepG2/2.2.15 cells.
Schematic flow chart
of TAB that acted on screening proteins in
HepG2/2.2.15 cells.In this study, HepG2/2.215
cells were seeded in culture bottles
for 12 h and then treated with TAB (40 μM) continuously for
3, 6, and 12 h. After protein extraction and trypsin was digested,
iTRAQ labeling experiments were carried out. In these two iTRAQ experiments,
the labeled peptides were polymerized together and fractionated by
HPLC and analyzed by LC–MS/MS. Database search and intensive
bioinformatics were analyzed to identify potential tumor-specific
biomarkers for HCC. These potential biomarkers were further confirmed
by western blot, which was to clarify the mechanism of action of TAB
in HCC.
Protein Extraction of and Peptide Segment Enzymolysis
HepG2/2.215 cells were seeded in culture bottles for 12 h and then
treated with TAB (40 μM) continuously for 3, 6, and 24 h. In
this experiment, the SDT (4% (w/v) SDS, 100 mM Tris/HCl pH 7.6, 0.1
M DTT) lysis method was used to extract protein, and then the BCA
method was used to quantify protein. Then, the sample proteins were
enzymatically hydrolyzed by trypsin using the filtered protein preparation
(FASP) method[31] and then desalted by the
C18 cartridge. The peptide was lyophilized and redissolved by adding
40 μL dissolution buffer, and the peptide was quantified (OD280).
iTRAQ Markers and SCX Chromatographic Classification
Peptide
(0.1 mg) from each sample was taken, mixed with the peptide
labeled according to the iTRAQ labeling kit, and then graded with
AKTA Purifier 100. The detection wavelength was 214 nm, and the flow
rate of the column was 1 mL/min. Gradient elution was used for separation
with buffer A (10 mM KH2PO4, 25% ACN, pH = 3.0)
and buffer B (10 mM KH2PO4, 500 mM KCl, 25%
ACN, pH = 3.0), and the eluent was collected every minute before freeze-drying
and desalination. The liquid phase gradient is shown in Table .
Table 3
Gradient
Elution Condition of Buffer
A and Buffer B in SCX Chromatographic Classification
t (min)
0
25
32
42
47
60
>60
buffer
A
100%
90%
80%
55%
0%
0%
100%
buffer B
0/%
10%
20%
45%
100%
100%
0%
LC–MS/MS
Analysis
Each fractionated sample was
separated by HPLC liquid phase system Easy nLC with a nanoliter flow
rate. Buffer A is 0.1% formic acid aqueous solution, and B is 0.1%
formic acid acetonitrile aqueous solution (acetonitrile is 84%). The
chromatographic column is balanced with 95% of liquid A. The sample
is loaded into the loading column (Thermo Scientific Acclaim Pepmap
100, 100 μm × 2 cm, Nanoviper C18) by an automatic sampler
and separated by an analysis column (Waters nanoACQUITY, 25 cm) at
a flow rate of 300 nL/min.After chromatographic separation,
samples were analyzed by mass spectrometry using a Q-Exactive mass
spectrometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific). The detection method is positive
ions, the scanning range of parent ions is 300–1800 m/z, the primary mass spectrum resolution
is 70,000 at 200 m/z, the AGC (automatic
gain control) target is 1e6, the maximum IT is 50 ms, and the dynamic
exclusion time is 60.0 s. The mass-to-charge ratio of polypeptide
and polypeptide fragments is collected according to the following
methods: 10 fragment patterns (MS2 scan) are collected after each
full scan and the MS2 activation type is HCD, isolation window is
2 m/z, secondary mass spectrometry
resolution is 17,500 at 200 m/z,
normalized collision energy is 30 eV, and underfill is 0.1%.
Protein
Identification and Quantitative Analysis
The
RAW data for mass spectrometry analysis are RAW files, and the software
Mascot2.2 and Proteome Discoverer1.4 are used for library checking,
identification, and quantitative analysis. Relevant parameters and
descriptions are as follows. Enzyme: trypsin. Max Missed Cleavages:
2. Fixed modifications: carbamidomethyl (C), iTRAQ 4/8plex (N-term),
iTRAQ 4/8plex (K). Variable modifications: Oxidation (M), iTRAQ 4/8plex
(Y). Peptide mass tolerance: ± 20 ppm. Fragment mass tolerance:
0.1 Da. Protein Quantification: The protein ratios are calculated
as the median of only unique peptides of the protein.
Bioinformatics
Analysis
The original data of mass spectrometry
analysis were used to quantify and identify analysis with Proteome
Discoverer 1.4 and Masot 2.2 systems and retrieved by analysis software.
All quantitative and qualitative protein analysis results were merged
according to the filter parameter FDR < 0.01. GO function annotation/enrichment
and KEGG pathway annotation/enrichment,[32] cluster analysis, and PPI protein interaction network analysis were
performed for differentially expressed proteins with a ratio of >1.2
and a p value of <0.05, which was considered as
significant.
Western Blot Analysis
The total
proteins of in the
HepG2/2.215 cells were extracted by using appropriate separation kits.
The protein content was detected by a nucleic acid analyzer (Thermo
scientific, USA). After separation by using SDS-PAGE gels, the protein
was transferred onto the nitrocellulose membranes. The nitrocellulose
membranes transferred protein were incubated with the proteins to
be verified and β-actin primary antibodies at 4 °C overnight
and then secondary antibody labeled HRP were added. The target protein
bands were visualized on an X-ray film by using ECL coloration. Quantitative
analysis was performed by using the Image J morphology analysis system
(National Institute of Health, USA), and molecular expressions were
normalized to β-actin.
Protein Database Searches
Proteins related to proteomics
were searched in NR and UNIPORT databases. KEGG analysis was searched
in Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, GENE ONTOLOGY database,
and string database (http://string-db.org/), which have outstanding research on the information of protein
interaction. Therefore, in order to obtain accurate interaction information
and network with experimental evidence and make it more meaningful
to study the precise regulatory relationship between proteins, we
usually choose intact (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/intact/main.xhtml) as the main method. Furthermore, In order to obtain more
information, the data of string database is usually used for the species
with insufficient interaction research.
Statistical Analysis
All results were confirmed in
at least three independent experiments, and all data were presented
as mean ± SD. Database was set up with SPSS 21.0 software package
(SPSS Inc., Chicago, USA), multiple variables were performed by one-way
ANOVA, Dunn’s multiple comparison test and the Kruskal–Wallis
test were used for comparison of variable pairs. P < 0.05 or P < 0.01 was considered statistically
significant.
Authors: Philip L Ross; Yulin N Huang; Jason N Marchese; Brian Williamson; Kenneth Parker; Stephen Hattan; Nikita Khainovski; Sasi Pillai; Subhakar Dey; Scott Daniels; Subhasish Purkayastha; Peter Juhasz; Stephen Martin; Michael Bartlet-Jones; Feng He; Allan Jacobson; Darryl J Pappin Journal: Mol Cell Proteomics Date: 2004-09-22 Impact factor: 5.911