Hcc-2, a novel mammalian ER thioredoxin that is differentially expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary cancer of the liver. Thus there is great interest to identify novel HCC diagnostic markers for early detection of the disease and tumour specific associated proteins as potential therapeutic targets in the treatment of HCC. Currently, we are screening for early biomarkers as well as studying the development of HCC by identifying the differentially expressed proteins of HCC tissues during different stages of disease progression. We have isolated, by reverse transcriptase and polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), a 1741bp cDNA encoding a protein that is differentially expressed in HCC. This novel protein was initially identified by proteome analysis and we designate it as Hcc-2. The protein is upregulated in poorly-differentiated HCC but unchanged in well-differentiated HCC. The full-length transcript encodes a protein of 363 amino acids that has three thioredoxin (Trx) (CGHC) domains and an ER retention signal motif (KDEL). Fluorescence GFP tagging to this protein confirmed that it is localized predominantly to the cytoplasm when expressed in mammalian cells. Protein alignment analysis shows that it is a variant of the TXNDC5 gene, and the human variants found in Genbank all show close similarity in protein sequence. Functionally, it exhibits the anticipated reductase activity in the insulin disulfide reduction assay, but its other biological role in cell function remains to be elucidated. This work demonstrates that an integrated proteomics and genomics approach can be a very powerful means of discovering potential diagnostic and therapeutic protein targets for cancer therapy.

Large scale gene expression profiling of metabolic shift of mammalian cells in culture.

The metabolic state of hybridoma cells in continuous culture varies with the cultivation condition from which the culture is initiated. At a metabolically shifted state, cells have markedly reduced glucose and other nutrient consumption and lactate production as compared to cells in batch culture or in continuous culture without a metabolic shift. Taking a combined genomics and proteomics approach, we investigated the molecular mechanism of metabolic shift. Cells from continuous cultures at two different steady states with a glucose consumption to lactate production molar ratio (DeltaL/DeltaG) of 0.08 and 1.4 were studied. Affymetrix GeneChips as well as cDNA microarrays were employed to identify differentially expressed mRNA transcripts, and the differentially expressed proteins were identified using the 2D gel electrophoresis-mass spectrometry approach. The decrease in glucose metabolism upon metabolic shift is accompanied by a decrease in gene expression of a number of genes involved in its metabolism. However, the number of genes differentially expressed and the extent of differential expression upon metabolic shift are relatively moderate. The change in the expression of metabolic genes at the transcriptional level was confirmed by real time PCR. The results suggest that metabolic shift is a combined effect of both biochemical events at reaction level and gene expression at transcription and translation level. This approach of integrating transcriptional profiling, proteomic techniques and biochemical analysis provides a more global view of the metabolism of mammalian cells in culture.

Proteome analysis of conditioned medium from mouse embryonic fibroblast feeder layers which support the growth of human embryonic stem cells.

Human embryonic stem (ES) cells are pluripotent cells with the potential to differentiate into a variety of cell types, which could be used for cell transplantation therapies as well as drug discovery studies. However, the large-scale culture of undifferentiated human ES cells is currently limited by their dependency on mouse embryonic fibroblast feeder layers. The proteomics approach was employed to characterize the environment that supports the growth of undifferentiated human ES cells and to identify factors critical for their independent growth. Conditioned medium from mouse embryonic fibroblast feeder layers, STO cell line, was concentrated and subjected to analyses by two-dimensional electrophoresis mass spectrometry. In total, 136 unique protein species were identified which included some that are known to participate in cell growth and differentiation, extracellular matrix formation and remodeling, in addition to the unexpected but interesting finding of many nominally intracellular proteins. This approach has thus revealed the complexity of the environment provided by the feeder cells and provides a useful starting point for future studies. Moreover, candidates from the initial list of identified proteins can be further investigated for their effects on the growth and differentiation of human ES cells in a defined culture environment.