Molecular Pathological Signatures of Gastric Cancer in Koreans Revealed by Label-Free Proteomics

Hee Jung Sul, Jong Bok Seo, Sung-Hwa Sohn, Ji Woong Cho, Kab Choong Kim, A-Young Kim, Boram Han, Hyeong Su Kim, Hyun Lim, Ho Suk Kang, Jae Seung Soh, Jinwon Seo, Young Ho Koh and Dae Young Zang

Hallym Translational Research Institute, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Anyang, Korea
Korea Basic Science Institute Seoul Center, Korea
Department of Surgery, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Korea
Ilsong Institute of Life Science, Hallym University, Korea
Division of Hematology-Oncology, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Korea
Division of Hematology-Oncology, Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital, Korea
Department of Internal Medicine, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Korea
Department of Pathology, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Korea
Department of Bio-Medical Gerontology, Graduate School, Hallym University, Korea
These authors contributed equally to the work

^*Correspondance to: Dae Young Zang 

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Abstract:

Background: Recent studies in Gastric Cancer (GC) suggested that it could be a heterogeneous disease caused by various genetic defects in combination with environmental risk factors.
Objective: In this study, a quantitative label-free proteomic analysis were performed to detect differentially expressed proteins and fusion proteins that are only expressed in GC tissues and to identify the signal transduction pathways involved in the tumorigenesis of GC in Korean patients.
Methods: We identified 72 up-and 29 down-regulated proteins in at least 5 out of 9 GC tissues compared with paired normal tissues.
Results: These proteins were divided into 6 highly interacting clusters and 5 relatively related groups for which no interactions have been reported to date but cellular and molecular functions may be shared. Interestingly, the clusters and groups harbored targets for cancer drugs and prognostic markers for several cancers. In addition to these similarities to other cancers, the expression levels of ACTN4, ARG2 and ARG3 were significantly decreased in GC, suggesting differences in signaling
in Korean GC compared with other cancers. Furthermore, we identified 2 fusion proteins that were expressed only in GC tissues and not in normal gastric tissues: TPM4-ALK and hnRNPA2B1-FAM96A.
Conclusion: Our label-free proteomic and biochemical analysis revealed that Korean GC showed tumorigenesis signaling characteristics shared with other cancers in addition to presenting novel defects, such as fusion proteins and altered expression.

Keywords:

Stomach; Neoplasm; Label-free; Proteomics; Fusion proteins; TPM4-ALK; hnRNPA2B1-FAM96A

Cite the Article:

Sul HJ, Seo JB, Sohn S-H, Cho JW, Kim KC, Kim A-Y, et al. Molecular Pathological Signatures of Gastric Cancer in Koreans Revealed by Label-Free Proteomics. Clin Oncol. 2021;6:1794..