Method for Identifying Human Growth Hormone Proteoform (hGHP) Pattern Biomarker

A method for identifying a human growth hormone proteoform (hGHP) pattern biomarker, comprising:

• S1. collecting an hGH-secreting pituitary adenoma tissue sample and a normal pituitary tissue sample, and lysing the tissues separately to extract two sets of tissue proteins;
• S2. equally dividing each of the two sets of tissue proteins obtained in Si into two parts, and subjecting the two parts separately to two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DGE) to obtain a protein-containing 2D gel a and a protein-containing 2D gel b;
• S3. subjecting the protein-containing 2D gel a obtained in S2 to western blotting to obtain a visualized polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane;
• S4. soaking the protein-containing 2D gel b obtained in S2 in a Coomassie brilliant blue (CBB) staining solution to obtain a CBB-stained 2D gel b;
• and soaking the protein-containing 2D gel a undergoing western blotting in S3 in a CBB staining solution to obtain a CBB-stained 2D gel a;
• S5. scanning the visualized PVDF membrane obtained in S3 and the CBB-stained 2D gel b and the CBB-stained 2D gel a obtained in S4 to obtain digital images;
• importing the digital images into Bio-Rad PDQuest 2D gel image analysis software to quantify volumes of protein spots;
• and matching an immuno-positive western blotting spot with corresponding protein spots in the CBB-stained 2D gels a and b;
• S6. subjecting proteins in 2D gel protein spots in the CBB-stained 2D gels a and b obtained in S4 that are corresponding to an immuno-positive western blotting spot in the visualized PVDF membrane obtained in S3 to protein digestion with trypsin;
• and subjecting a tryptic peptide mixture to extraction and then purification with a ZipTipC18 microcolumn to obtain a purified tryptic peptide mixture;
• S7. subjecting the purified tryptic peptide mixture obtained in S6 to matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) analysis, liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) analysis, or matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization double-time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-TOF-MS/MS) analysis, to obtain peptide fingerprint (PMF) data and MS/MS data;
• S8. inputting the PMF data and MS/MS data obtained in S7 into the Mascot search engine to search for proteins in the UniProt database for identification;
• S9. calculating theoretical tryptic peptide masses of GH with a peptide mass tool, and aligning sequences of tryptic peptides of GH to theoretical sequences of GH precursor, mature GH, and GH splicing variants 1, 2, 3, and 4 to determine characteristic tryptic peptides of the GH precursor, the mature GH, and the GH splicing variants 1, 2, 3, and 4;
• and comparing the obtained characteristic tryptic peptides to each mass spectrum obtained in S7 to determine whether a GHP is derived from the GH precursor, the mature GH, or the GH splicing variants 1, 2, 3, or 4;
• wherein the amino acid sequence of GH precursor is set forth in SEQ ID NO:
• 1, the amino acid sequence of mature GH is set forth in SEQ ID NO:
• 2, the amino acid sequence of GH splice variant 1 is set forth in SEQ ID NO:
• 3, the amino acid sequence of GH splicing variant 2 is set forth in SEQ ID NO:
• 4, the amino acid sequence of GH splicing variant 3 is set forth in SEQ ID NO:
• 5, and the amino acid sequence of GH splicing variant 4 is set forth in SEQ ID NO:
• 6;
• S10. subjecting the GH-secreting pituitary adenoma tissue and the normal pituitary tissue to quantitative phosphoproteomics:
• Briefly, subjecting proteins of the two tissues separately to protein digestion with trypsin, labeling a tryptic peptide mixture with an iTRAQ reagent, and enriching phosphopeptides with TiO2;
• using LC-MS/MS analysis to identify an amino acid sequence and a phosphorylation site of a phosphoprotein and quantify an abundance of each phosphopeptide;
• and comparing an obtained tryptic peptide where a GH phosphorylation site is located to each mass spectrum obtained in S7 to determine a phosphorylation state of GHP;
• S11. subjecting the GH-secreting pituitary adenoma tissue and the normal pituitary tissue to quantitative ubiquitinomics:
• Briefly, subjecting proteins of the two tissues separately to protein digestion with trypsin, and using ubiquitin antibodies to enrich ubiquitinated peptides from an obtained tryptic peptide mixture;
• using LC-MS/MS analysis to identify an amino acid sequence and an ubiquitination site of an ubiquitinated protein;
• using a label-free quantification method to quantify an abundance of an ubiquitinated peptide;
• and comparing an obtained tryptic peptide where a GH ubiquitination site is located to each mass spectrum obtained in S7 to determine an ubiquitination state of GHP;
• and
• S12. subjecting the GH-secreting pituitary adenoma tissue and the normal pituitary tissue to quantitative acetylomics:
• Briefly, subjecting proteins of the two tissues separately to protein digestion with trypsin, and using acetyl antibodies to enrich acetylated peptides from an obtained tryptic peptide mixture;
• using LC-MS/MS analysis to identify an amino acid sequence and an acetylation site of an acetylated protein;
• using a label-free quantification method to quantify an abundance of an acetylated peptide;
• and comparing an obtained tryptic peptide where a GH acetylation site is located to each mass spectrum obtained in S7 to determine an acetylation state of GHP.