Proteomic Profiling of the Blood Serum for Prediction of Premature Delivery

Abstract

Mass-spectrometric profiling of the serum in women at weeks 16-17 of gestation was carried out in order to detect proteomic predictors of preterm delivery. Changes in the production of 25 proteins (down-regulation for 13 proteins and up-regulation for 12 proteins) were detected in the sera of women whose pregnancies eventuated in premature deliveries. Among them, proteins with various regulatory functions were distinguished: antioxidant enzymes, chaperons, cytoskeleton proteins, cell adhesion molecules, and proteins involved in angiogenesis, proteolysis, transcription, inflammation processes, binding and transportation of various ligands. These results indicated the formation of proteomic imbalance as early as during trimester II, this eventually leading to premature delivery. The detected serum proteins were suggested as markers for early prediction of premature delivery.

Prediction of Preterm Birth: Maternal Characteristics, Ultrasound Markers, and Biomarkers: An Updated Overview

“…Production of 25 proteins in maternal serum at 16-17 weeks of gestation was analyzed and proteomic imbalance (downregulation and upregulation) in 25 proteins as antioxidant enzymes, chaperons, cytoskeleton proteins, cell adhesion molecules, and proteins involved in angiogenesis, proteolysis, transcription, inflammation, binding, and transportation of various ligands was detected [ 74 ]. This means that changes that promote PB start as early as second trimester.…”

Recent advances in the prevention of preterm birth

“…Markers of cervical inflammation could, therefore, be employed to target therapy to those at highest risk 59, 60 . Alternatively, maternal blood-based tests 61 may be useful in identifying responders and non-responders as well as women with systemic inflammatory activation 62– 64 .…”

Translational Systems Pharmacology Studies in Pregnant Women

“…The majority of the proteomic studies in PTB are based on either changes in the concentration of a protein/peptide or in their differential expression between the preterm and control groups indicating a diagnostic and or predictive factor for PTB . Studies have explored the proteomes of PTB in maternal serum, plasma, fetal and amniotic fluids with or without intra‐amniotic inflammation/infection, and preterm rupture of membranes at an early stage of pregnancy before the onset of symptoms, during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy ( Table ). Several high‐throughput analytical techniques (e.g., gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS), liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry (LC‐MS), hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1 H‐NMR), ultra‐performance liquid chromatography (UPLC‐MS), immunosorbent assays, iTRAQ matrix‐assisted desorption/ionization‐mass spectrometry (MALDI‐MS)) have been used in proteomic studies to identify as well as measure the biomarkers indiscriminately.…”

“…used mass spectrometric profiling of maternal serum to identify the proteomic predictors of PTB. Their findings detected changes in the production of 25 proteins with various regulatory functions namely proteolysis, angiogenesis, inflammation processes, transcription, and binding and transportation of various ligands that can predict the PTB as early as during the second trimester of pregnancy . Lynch et al .…”

“…Their findings detected changes in the production of 25 proteins with various regulatory functions namely proteolysis, angiogenesis, inflammation processes, transcription, and binding and transportation of various ligands that can predict the PTB as early as during the second trimester of pregnancy. 45 Lynch et al 38 performed a longitudinal cohort study using SOMAscan proteomic assay method to measure the protein pathways in plasma among preterm deliveries and controls. The study identified complement cascade, the immune system, and the clotting cascade as top pathways to be associated with PTB, as coagulation factors IX and IX ab, Factor H, and Factor B were associated with increased risk of preterm delivery.…”