Chronological Profiling of Plasma Native Peptides after Hepatectomy in Pigs: Toward the Discovery of Human Biomarkers for Liver Regeneration

PLoS One. 2017 Jan 6;12(1):e0167647. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0167647. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy (PHx) is a time-dependent process, which is tightly regulated by multiple signaling cascades. Failure of this complex process leads to posthepatectomy liver failure (PHLF), which is associated with a high rate of mortality. Thus, it is extremely important to establish a useful biomarker of liver regeneration to help prevent PHLF. Here, we hypothesized that alterations in the plasma peptide profile may predict liver regeneration following PHx and hence we set up a diagnostic platform for monitoring posthepatectomy outcome. We chronologically analyzed plasma peptidomic profiles of 5 partially hepatectomized microminipigs using the ClinProtTM system, which consists of magnetic beads and MALDI-TOF/TOF MS. We identified endogenous circulating peptides specific to each phase of the postoperative course after PHx in pigs. Notably, peptide fragments of histones were detected immediately after PHx; the presence of these fragments may trigger liver regeneration in the very acute phase after PHx. An N-terminal fragment of hemoglobin subunit α (3627 m/z) was detected as an acute-phase-specific peptide. In the recovery phase, the short N-terminal fragments of albumin (3028, 3042 m/z) were decreased, whereas the long N-terminal fragment of the protein (8926 m/z) was increased. To further validate and extract phase-specific biomarkers using plasma peptidome after PHx, plasma specimens of 4 patients who underwent PHx were analyzed using the same method as we applied to pigs. It revealed that there was also phase-specificity in peptide profiles, one of which was represented by a fragment of complement C4b (2378 m/z). The strategy described herein is highly efficient for the identification and characterization of peptide biomarkers of liver regeneration in a swine PHx model. This strategy is feasible for application to human biomarker studies and will yield clues for understanding liver regeneration in human clinical trials.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biomarkers
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
  • Female
  • Hepatectomy*
  • Humans
  • Liver Regeneration
  • Peptides / blood*
  • ROC Curve
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization
  • Swine
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Substances

  • Biomarkers
  • Peptides

Grants and funding

This study was supported by Translational Research Grant from Translational Research Center, Kyoto University Hospital, http://www.kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~trc/, EH received the funding. The funder had a role in purchase of animals.