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Specific Proteins Identified in Whole Saliva from Patients with Diffuse Systemic Sclerosis LAURA GIUSTI, LAURA BAZZICHI, CHIARA BALDINI, FEDERICA CIREGIA, GIOVANNI MASCIA, GINO GIANNACCINI, MARIO DEL ROSSO, STEFANO BOMBARDIERI, and ANTONIO LUCACCHINI
ABSTRACT. Methods. Whole saliva (WS) was collected from 15 patients with diffuse SSc and 15 healthy volunteers. Protein expression profiles for each sample were generated by 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis, and protein spots of interest were identified using peptide mass fingerprinting. Results. The level of all the most representative salivary proteins except keratin 6L remained unchanged and only qualitative differences were observed between control subjects and patients with SSc. A total of 19 spots were found in SSc that were not matched with the controls. Fourteen out of a total of 19 spots were identified by mass analysis and were found to collapse into 9 unique proteins. These spots were identified to be cyclophilin A, calgranulin B, psoriasin, ß2-microglobulin, calgranulin A, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, triose phosphate isomerase (TPI), actin-related protein 2/3 complex subunit 2 (Arp2/3 complex), and cystatin B. Conclusion. Our study is the first reporting the WS protein pattern of patients with SSc and comparing the differences between WS of patients with SSc and WS of healthy subjects. Both previously identified and newly identified proteins were detected in WS using a proteomic approach. Some of these proteins, like keratin 6L, psoriasin, TPI, and Arp2/3 complex, might have a pathological significance for SSc. It is possible that some of them can be defined as new therapeutic targets or diagnostic markers for SSc disease. (First Release August 15 2007; J Rheumatol 2007;34:2063-9) Key Indexing Terms:
SALIVA
From the Department of Psychiatry, Neurobiology, Pharmacology and Biotechnology; Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, University of Pisa, Pisa; and the Department of Experimental Pathology and Oncology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy. Supported by Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca grants. L. Giusti, PhD; F. Ciregia, MD; G. Mascia, PhD; G. Giannaccini, PhD; A. Lucacchini, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Neurobiology, Pharmacology and Biotechnology, University of Pisa; L. Bazzichi, MD; C. Baldini, MD; S. Bombardieri, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, University of Pisa; M. Del Rosso, MD, Department of Experimental Pathology and Oncology, University of Florence. Address reprint requests to Prof. A. Lucacchini, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, Via Bonanno 6, 56126 Pisa, Italy. E-mail: lucas@farm.unipi.it Accepted for publication June 12, 2007. |
