Background
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive human tumors due to its high potential of local invasion and metastasis. The
Conclusion
Membrane proteomes of AsPC-1 (metastatic) and BxPC-3 (primary) cells are remarkably different. The differentially expressed membrane proteins may serve as potential targets for diagnostic and therapeutic interventions.
Methods
Membrane/membrane-associated proteins were isolated from AsPC-1 and BxPC-3 cells and identified with a proteomic approach based on SDS-PAGE, in-gel tryptic digestion and liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). X! Tandem was used for database searching against the SwissProt human protein database.
Results
We identified 221 & 208 proteins from AsPC-1 and BxPC-3 cells, respectively, most of which are membrane or membrane-associated proteins. A hundred and nine proteins were found in both cell lines while the others were present in either AsPC-1 or BxPC-3 cells. Differentially expressed proteins between two cell lines include modulators of cell adhesion, cell motility or tumor invasion as well as metabolic enzymes involved in glycolysis, tricarboxylic acid cycle, or nucleotide/lipid metabolism.