Proteomics Approach to Identify Serum Biomarkers Associated with Gastric Cancer in South Indian Tamils

BACKGROUND: Identifying cancer-specific biomarkers is a crucial step in the disease screening process at a very early stage of tumor development. In recent years, Quantitative proteomic approaches have gained importance in identifying novel candidate markers in cancer. Gastric cancer has always been known as a life-threatening medical condition with high mortality rates. OBJECTIVES: The objective of our research is to adapt serum samples from Indian gastric cancer patients to identify and understand the differentially regulated proteins in comparison with healthy individuals. METHODS: A total of 30 serum isolates from gastric cancer patients and healthy individuals were obtained and subjected to 2-D Gel electrophoresis, and Tandem LC-MS analysis revealed 12 differentially expressed protein spots. The functional properties of identified proteins were further analyzed using PANTHER and STRING databases. RESULTS: The differentially expressed protein spots were identified as three candidate proteins: Haptoglobin, Prohibitin, and Apolipoprotein. The protein interaction studies reveal that the haptoglobin fragments were upregulated, and the remaining two prohibitin and Apolipoprotein were down-regulated in gastric cancer patients. CONCLUSION: All the proteins identified as biomarkers were found to be involved in regulating cell proliferation and stabilization of oxidative metabolism in the liver; therefore, differential regulation plays a crucial role in gastric cancer progression.