Proteomic study of serum using gel chromatography and MALDI-TOF MS reveals diagnostic biomarkers in male patients with liver-cancer

Human serum has been widely employed clinically for diagnosing various fatal diseases. However, the concentration of most proteins in human serum is too low to be directly measured using normal analytical methods. In order to obtain reliable analytical results from proteomic analysis of human serum, appropriate sample preparation is essential. A combined off-line analytical technique of gel chromatography and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization/time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has been successfully established to separate proteins for MS analysis. Using these combined techniques, 176 mass signal peaks of proteins/peptides were found in 6 of 18 fractions from normal male serum (NMS) in the presence of buffer consisting of NH4HCO3 and acetonitrile. A simple gel chromatography column packed with Sephadex G-50 removed most signal-suppressing compounds such as salts and high abundance proteins (HAP). The molecular mass to charge (m/z) ratios of differential peptides revealed in serum of male patient with liver-cancer (LCMPS) compared to NMS were 5365, 5644 and 6462, and these peptides can be used as biomarkers to clinically diagnose liver-cancer. The simple and convenient chromatographic method described here is not only superior to recently described HPLC separation for MS analysis, but also reveals many novel and significant serum biomarkers for the clinical diagnosis of various diseases.