Proteomic analysis of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma: A biomarker identification strategy based on preparation and in-solution digestion methods of total proteins

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL), caused by human T-cell leukemia virus type-1 (HTLV-1) infection, is a malignant hematologic cancer that remains difficult to cure. We herein established a biomarker identification strategy based on the total cell proteomics of cultured ATL cells to search for novel ATL biomarkers. Four protocols with a combination of selected conditions based on lysis buffers and addition agents for total cell proteomics were used for a differential analysis between the ATL cell group (consisting of 11 cell lines), HTLV-1-infected cell group (consisting of 6 cell lines), and HTLV-1-negative cell group (consisting of 6 cell lines). In the analysis, we identified 24 and 27 proteins that were significantly increased (ratio ≥2.0, p < 0.05) and decreased (ratio ≤ 0.5, p < 0.05), respectively, in the ATL group. Previously reported CCL3 and CD30/TNFRSF8 were confirmed to be among significantly increased proteins. Furthermore, correlation analysis between identified proteins and Tax suggested that RASSF2 and GORASP2 were candidates of novel Tax-regulated factors. The biomarker identification strategy established herein is expected to contribute to the identification of biomarkers for ATL and other diseases.