Differential proteomic analysis of human lung adenocarcinoma cell line and bronchial epithelium cell line

AIM: The comparative analysis of total proteins expressed differentially between adenocarcinoma cell line A549 (a human lung adenocarcinoma) and normal cell line HBE (a human lung bronchial epithelium) was conducted to search the proteins involved in tumorigenesis and potential biomarkers of diagnosis or prognosis. METHODS: The proteins of dramatic differential expression were screened in adenocarcinoma cell Line A549 and normal cell line HBE by using immobilized pH gradient-two dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis combined with MALDI-TOF/TOF tandem mass spectrometry. Furthermore, the differential expressed proteins were confirmed by the method of Western blotting. RESULTS: Compared with the two cell lines, 21 differential expressed proteins were found and their functions involves in cell metabolism, protein modification, cell motility, protein trafficking and signal transduction. The up-regulation of heat shock protein beta-1 (HSPB1) in A549 cells was identified and confirmed. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that dramatic differential proteomic expression exists between the two cell lines. The high level of HSPB1 might play an important role in the process of tumorigenesis.