Peptidome Analysis of Human Serum From Normal and Preeclamptic Pregnancies

ABSTRACT Preeclampsia is a kind of disease that severely harms the health of pregnant women and infants. To better understand the molecular mechanisms involved in preeclampsia, we used liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC‐MS/MS) to construct a comparative peptidomic profiling of human serum between normal and preeclamptic pregnancies. A total of 201 peptides were confidently identified, with 21 up‐regulated and three down‐regulated. Further analysis indicated that these differentially expressed peptides correlate with enzyme regulator activity, biological regulation, and coagulation cascades occurring during pathological changes of preeclampsia. The identification of key peptides in serum may serve not only as a basis for better understanding and further exploring the etiology and pathogenesis of PE, but also as potential biomarkers and in providing targets for future therapy in PE, especially in early onset severe PE (sPE). J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 4341–4348, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.