We extracted a 66-kDa glycoprotein (GP-1D8) from breast invasive ductal carcinoma tissues. The monoclonal antibody (mAb) against GP-1D8 was prepared in our laboratory. Western blotting with the purified protein using the mAb demonstrated a single band of 66 kDa. Immunocytochemical and immunohistochemical analysis revealed strong expression of GP-1D8 protein in the cytoplasm of MCF-7 cells and different types of breast carcinoma tissues, but GP-1D8 is absent in normal breast and benign breast tumor tissues. Glycosylation analysis showed GP-1D8 contained methylated salic acid. GP-1D8 was identified using mass-spectrometric techniques and N-terminal sequencing. These data were used to identify the protein through the SWISSPROT protein sequence database and BLAST homology search. These results showed GP-1D8 had some similarity to human albumin precursor. Co-immunoprecipitation assays of lysate from MCF-7 cells and mass spectrometric analysis revealed the interaction of GP-1D8 with β β β β-tubulin. This is the first time human breast carcinoma tissues and MCF- T he identification of proteins with change levels as biomarkers might be useful for the early detection of cancer, monitoring disease progression, prediction of disease recurrence and evaluation of treatment efficacy. Breast cancer is now the most prevalent cancer in women worldwide.(1) Although some biomarkers, such as CEA, HER2, mammaglobin-A, MUC1 and CA15.3 have been studied as breast cancer-associated antigens, (2-7) the detection sensitivity and specificity of all these markers are low. To date, there has been no specific biomarker for breast cancer.In the present study, the authors extracted a 66-kDa glycoprotein (GP-1D8) from breast invasive ductal carcinoma tissues, purified the GP-1D8 glycoprotein with affinity chromatography, and then identified the GP-1D8 glycoprotein using western blot analysis, N-terminal sequencing and mass-spectrometric techniques. The authors also compared the GP-1D8 expression in normal breast tissues, benign breast tumors (breast fibroadenoma), different types of human breast carcinoma tissues and human breast cancer MCF-7 cells. Co-immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometric experiments were carried out to identify GP-1D8-interacting proteins.
Materials and methodsProtein extracts. Fresh samples of eight breast invasive ductal carcinoma tissues were obtained from the School of Oncology, Peking University, Beijing, China. All patients gave written informed consent and the use of these samples was approved by the Hospital Ethical Committee. The pathology diagnosis of the formalin fixed paraffin-embedded tissue sections were confirmed using HE staining. The fresh lumpectomy specimens (3 g for each sample) were excised from the surrounding adipose tissue and washed with PBS (0.137 M NaCL, 2.7 mM KCL, 8.0 mM Na 2 HPO 4 , 1.8 mM KH 2 PO 4 , PBS) three times, the tissues were cut into 1-2-mm 3 size pieces, washed with PBS three times, frozen with liquid nitrogen, and then ground to a fine power using a mortar and pestle. The powder...