Identification of Potentially Novel Molecular Targets of Endometrial Cancer Using a Non-Biased Proteomic Approach

Anthony H Taylor; Justin C Konje; Thangesweran Ayakannu

doi:10.3390/cancers15184665

Identification of Potentially Novel Molecular Targets of Endometrial Cancer Using a Non-Biased Proteomic Approach

Cancers (Basel). 2023 Sep 21;15(18):4665. doi: 10.3390/cancers15184665.

Authors

Anthony H Taylor^{1

2}, Justin C Konje^{1

3

4}, Thangesweran Ayakannu^{1

5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Reproductive Sciences Section, Department of Cancer Studies & Molecular Medicine, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK.
² Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK.
³ Department of Health Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK.
⁴ Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Al Rayyan, Doha P.O. Box 24144, Qatar.
⁵ Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Taylor's University, Subang Jaya 47500, Selangor, Malaysia.
⁶ Sunway Medical Centre, Bandar Sunway, Subang Jaya 47500, Selangor, Malaysia.

Abstract

The present study was aimed at identifying novel proteins in endometrial cancer (EC), employing proteomic analysis of tissues obtained after surgery. A differential MS-based proteomic analysis was conducted from whole tissues dissected from biopsies from post-menopausal women, histologically confirmed as endometrial cancer (two endometrioid and two serous; n = 4) or normal atrophic endometrium (n = 4), providing 888 differentially expressed proteins with 246 of these previously documented elsewhere as expressed in EC and 372 proteins not previously demonstrated to be expressed in EC but associated with other types of cancer. Additionally, 33 proteins not recorded previously in PubMed as being expressed in any forms of cancer were also identified, with only 26 of these proteins having a publication associated with their expression patterns or putative functions. The putative functions of the 26 proteins (GRN, APP, HEXA, CST3, CAD, QARS, SIAE, WARS, MYH8, CLTB, GOLIM4, SCARB2, BOD1L1, C14orf142, C9orf142, CCDC13, CNPY4, FAM169A, HN1L, PIGT, PLCL1, PMFBP1, SARS2, SCPEP1, SLC25A24 and ZC3H4) in other tissues point towards and provide a basis for further investigation of these previously unrecognised novel EC proteins. The developmental biology, disease, extracellular matrix, homeostatic, immune, metabolic (both RNA and protein), programmed cell death, signal transduction, molecular transport, transcriptional networks and as yet uncharacterised pathways indicate that these proteins are potentially involved in endometrial carcinogenesis and thus may be important in EC diagnosis, prognostication and treatment and thus are worthy of further investigation.

Keywords: biomarker; endometrial cancer; prognosis; protein; proteomics; therapy.

Grants and funding

This study was funded by grants from the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and miscellaneous income from the post-graduate (MRCOG) courses run by J.C.K. at the University of Leicester.