Submitted on April 5, 2007
Accepted on July 17, 2007
Proteomics identification of proteins in human cortex using multi-dimensional separations and MALDI tandem mass spectrometer
Sheng Pan, Min Shi, Jinghua Jin, Roger L. Albin, Andy Lieberman, Marla Gearing, Biaoyang Lin, Catherine Pan, Xiaowei Yan, Daniel T. Kashima, and Jing Zhang
Department of Pathology, Seattle
Corresponding Author: span{at}u.washington.edu
It is essential to characterize the proteome of various regions of human brain because most, if not all, neurodegenerative diseases are region specific. Here we report an in-depth proteomics identification of proteins extracted from the frontal cortex, a region playing a critical role in cognitive function. The integrated proteomics analytical flow consisted of biochemical fractionation, strong cation exchange chromatography, reverse phase liquid chromatography, and MALDI TOF/TOF mass spectrometer. In total, 812 proteins were confidently identified with two or more peptides. These proteins demonstrated diverse isoelectric points and molecular weights and are involved in several molecular functions, including protein binding, catalytic activity, transport, structure, and signal transduction. A number of proteins known to be associated with neurodegenerative diseases were also identified. Detailed characterization of these proteins will supply the necessary information to appropriately interpret proteins associated with aging and/or age-related neurodegenerative diseases. Finally, 140 proteins found in the cortical proteome were present in the proteome of cerebrospinal fluid, providing tissue-specific candidates for biomarker discovery in body fluid.