Lymph node metastasis (LNM) in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is related to increased risk of recurrence and poor prognosis. Tumour exosomes have been shown to be associated with metastasis of cancer cells. Therefore, we aim to identify the characteristics and biological functions of serum exosomes in lymph node metastases of PTC. We compared proteome profiles of serum-purified exosomes (SPEs) from PTC patients with LNM, PTC patients without LNM, and healthy donors, using a combination of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectroscopy analyses and tandem mass tag label quantitation analysis. We identified 1569 proteins by two or more unique peptides. Compared with the SPEs of PTC patients without LNM, we found 697 differentially expressed proteins in the SPEs of PTC patients with LNM. Our results revealed overexpression of specific proteins with well-established links to cancer cell metastasis, such as SRC, TLN1, ITGB2 and CAPNS1. Consistent with mass spectrum results, we performed Western blot to detect the expression of these proteins in individual sample. Biological pathway analyses showed that integrin signalling was aberrantly activated in the SPEs of PTC patients with LNM compared to those without LNM. Our study reveals that SPEs of PTC patients with lymph node metastases promote BHT101 thyroid cancer cell invasiveness, but have no apparent influence on cell migration. In the serum exosomes of PTC patients with LNM, integrin-associated proteins are obviously upregulated. These proteomic findings will contribute to elucidation of the pathophysiological functions of tumour-derived exosomes.

Background: Aged rhesus monkeys exhibit deficits in memory mediated by the hippocampus. Although extensive research has been carried out on the characteristics of human hippocampal aging, there is still very little scientific understanding of the changes associated with hippocampal aging in rhesus monkeys. To explore the proteomics profiling and pathway-related changes in the rhesus hippocampus during the aging process, we conducted a high throughput quantitative proteomics analysis of hippocampal samples from two groups of rhesus macaques aged 6 years and 20 years, using 2-plex tandem mass tag (TMT) labeling. In addition, we used a comprehensive bioinformatics analysis approach to investigate the enriched signaling pathways of differentially expressed proteins (the ratios of 20-years vs. 6-years, ≥ 1.20 or ≤ 0.83). Results: In total, 3260 proteins were identified with a high level of confidence in rhesus hippocampus. We found 367 differentially expressed proteins related to rhesus hippocampus aging. Based on biological pathway analysis, we found these aging-related proteins were predominantly enriched in the electron transport chain, NRF2 pathway, focal adhesion-PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling pathway and cytoplasmic ribosome proteins. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD011398. Conclusion: This study provides a detail description of the proteomics profile related to rhesus hippocampal aging. These findings should make an important contribution to further mechanistic studies, marker selection and drug development for the prevention and treatment of aging or age-related neurodegeneration.

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Background Aged rhesus monkeys exhibit deficits in memory mediated by the hippocampus. Although extensive research has been carried out on the characteristics of human hippocampal aging, there is still very little scientific understanding of the changes associated with hippocampal aging in rhesus monkeys. To explore the proteomics profiling and pathway-related changes in the rhesus hippocampus during the aging process, we conducted a high throughput quantitative proteomics analysis of hippocampal samples from two groups of rhesus macaques aged 6 years and 20 years, using 2-plex tandem mass tag (TMT) labeling. In addition, we used a comprehensive bioinformatics analysis approach to investigate the enriched signaling pathways of differentially expressed proteins (20-y vs. 6-y ≥1.20 or ≤ 0.83). Results In total, 3,260 proteins were identified with a high level of confidence in rhesus hippocampus. We found 367 differentially expressed proteins related to rhesus hippocampus aging. Based on biological pathway analysis, we found these aging-related proteins were predominantly enriched in the electron transport chain, NRF2 pathway, focal adhesion-PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling pathway and cytoplasmic ribosome proteins. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD011398. Conclusion This study provides a further understanding of the proteomics profile related to rhesus hippocampal aging, which will help to elucidate the differences between rhesus and human hippocampal aging. These findings should make an important contribution to further mechanistic studies, marker selection and drug development for the prevention and treatment of aging or age-related neurodegeneration.