Proteomic Analysis Of Differential Protein Expression In Early Process Of Pancreatic Regeneration In Pancreatectomized Rats

Objective A broad-range proteomic approach was applied to investigate the complexity of the mechanisms involved in pancreatic regeneration for identification of new targets of diabetes treatment and potential markers of pancreatic stem cells. Methods A regeneration pancreatic model was induced by 90% partial pancreatectomy (Px) in rats. Changes in the protein expression in rat regeneration pancreas at 3rd day after Px, as comparing to sham surgery (Sx), were analyzed by using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), mass spectrometry (MS), and peptide mass fingerprint (PMF) based on matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) and database searching. HSP47 and Vimentin were analyzed in Px and Sx rat with Western blotting to confirm the results of 2-DE. Results The average spots in gels for Sx and Px pancreatic tissues were 1369±28 and 1315±28, respectively. Two-DE displayed 91 spots with at least 1.5-fold of differential expression at the time point of 3 days after pancreatectomy and 53 differentially expressed proteins were identified by PMF. Among them, Vimentin, cytokeratin 8 (CK8), lymphocyte cytosolic protein 1 (L-plastin), heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A2/B1 (hnRNP A2/B1) and L-arginine: glycine amidinotransferase (AGAT) are associated with embryogenesis and cells differentiation and may be new potential pancreatic stem cells markers. Conclusions The proteome profiling technique provided a broad-based and effective approach for discovering potential biomarkers of pancreatic stem cells.