Around 5% of the general population have palpable thyroid nodules. Although most thyroid tumours are benign, thyroid cancer represents the most common malignancy of the endocrine system, comprising mainly follicular and papillary thyroid carcinomas. Previous studies have shed some light on the molecular pathogenesis of thyroid cancer but there have not been any comprehensive mass spectrometry-based proteomic studies of large scale to reveal protein expression differences between thyroid tumours and the molecular alterations associated with tumour malignancy. We applied data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry which enabled quantitative expression analysis of over 1,600 proteins from 32 specimens to compare normal thyroid tissue with the three most common tumours of the thyroid gland: follicular adenoma, follicular carcinoma and papillary carcinoma. In follicular tumours, we found marked reduction of the tumour suppressor and therapeutic target extracellular protein decorin. We made the novel observation that TGFβ-induced protein ig-h3 (TGFBI) was found frequently overexpressed in follicular carcinoma compared with follicular adenoma. Proteomic pathway analysis showed changes in papillary carcinoma were associated with disruption of cell contacts (loss of E-cadherin), actin cytoskeleton dynamics and loss of differentiation markers, all hallmarks of an invasive phenotype.

Five agave plants typically used in Mexico for making mezcal in places included in the Denomination of Origin (Mexican federal law that establishes the territory within which mezcal can be produced) of this spirit were analyzed: Agave salmiana ssp. crassispina, A. salmiana var. salmiana, Agave angustifolia, Agave cupreata, and Agave karwinskii. Fatty acid and total simple lipid profiles of the mature heads of each plant were determined by means of a modified Bligh-Dyer extraction and gas chromatography. Sixteen fatty acids were identified, from capric to lignoceric, ranging from 0.40 to 459 microg/g of agave. Identified lipids include free fatty acids, beta-sitosterol, and groups of mono-, di-, and triacylglycerols, their total concentration ranging from 459 to 992 microg/g of agave. Multivariate analyses performed on the fatty acid profiles showed a close similarity between A. cupreata and A. angustifolia. This fact can be ascribed to the taxa themselves or differences in growing conditions, an issue that is still to be explored. These results help to characterize the agaves chemically and can serve to relate the composition of mezcals from various states of Mexico with the corresponding raw material.

This review documents the uses of quantitative MS applied to colorectal cancer (CRC) proteomics for biomarker discovery and molecular pathway profiling. Investigators are adopting various labeling and label-free MS approaches to quantitate differential protein levels in cells, tumors, and plasma/serum. We comprehensively review recent uses of this technology to examine mouse models of CRC, CRC cell lines, their secretomes and subcellular fractions, CRC tumors, CRC patient plasma/serum, and stool samples. For biomarker discovery these approaches are uncovering proteins with potential diagnostic and prognostic utility, while in vitro cell culture experiments are characterizing proteomic and phosphoproteomic responses to disrupted signaling pathways due to mutations or to inhibition of drugable enzymes.