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World J Gastroenterol. May 14, 2007; 13(18): 2608-2614
Published online May 14, 2007. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i18.2608
Protein profile of human hepatocarcinoma cell line SMMC-7721: Identification and functional analysis
Yi Feng, Zhong-Min Tian, Ming-Xi Wan, Zhao-Bin Zheng
Yi Feng, Zhong-Min Tian, Ming-Xi Wan, Zhao-Bin Zheng, The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, Shaanxi Province, China
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30370403; the Key Project of Chinese Ministry of Education, No. 705046; the Doctoral Foundation of Xi’an Jiaotong University, grants No. DFXJTU2005-05
Correspondence to: Ming-Xi Wan, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, Shaanxi Province, China. mxwan@mail.xjtu.edu.cn
Telephone: +86-29-82667924 Fax: +86-29-82668668
Received: January 31, 2007
Revised: February 2, 2007
Accepted: March 1, 2007
Published online: May 14, 2007
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the protein profile of human hepatocarcinoma cell line SMMC-7721, to analyze the specific functions of abundant expressed proteins in the processes of hepatocarcinoma genesis, growth and metastasis, to identify the hepatocarcinoma-specific biomarkers for the early prediction in diagnosis, and to explore the new drug targets for liver cancer therapy.

METHODS: Total proteins from human hepatocarcinoma cell line SMMC-7721 were separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2DE). The silver-stained gel was analyzed by 2DE software Image Master 2D Elite. Interesting protein spots were identified by peptide mass fingerprinting based on matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) and database searching.

RESULTS: We obtained protein profile of human hepatocarcinoma cell line SMMC-7721. Among the twenty-one successfully identified proteins, mitofilin, endoplasmic reticulum protein ERp29, ubiquinol-cytochrome C reductase complex core protein I, peroxisomal enoyl CoA hydratase, peroxiredoxin-4 and probable 3-oxoacid CoA transferase 1 precursor were the six novel proteins identified in human hepatocarcinoma cells or tissues. Specific functions of the identified heat-shock proteins were analyzed in detail, and the results suggested that these proteins might promote tumorigenesis via inhibiting cell death induced by several cancer-related stresses or via inhibiting apoptosis at multiple points in the apoptotic signal pathway. Other identified chaperones and cancer-related proteins were also analyzed.

CONCLUSION: Based on the protein profile of SMMC-7721 cells, functional analysis suggests that the identified chaperones and cancer-related proteins have their own pathways to contribute to the tumorigenesis, tumor growth and metastasis of liver cancer. Furthermore, proteomic analysis is indicated to be feasible in the cancer study.

Keywords: Human hepatocarcinoma cell line SMMC-7721; Protein identification; Functional analysis; Heat-shock protein; Tumorigenesis