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Proteomic Analysis Identifies Tenascin-C Expression Is Upregulated in Uterine Fibroids

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Abstract

Uterine leiomyomas (fibroids) are the most common gynecological tumors, which are enriched in the extracellular matrix (ECM). Fibroids are leading cause of abnormal uterine bleeding and hysterectomy. One of the major questions yet to be answered is the overproduction of specific ECM components in human uterine fibroids, particularly in relation to mutations in the driver gene mediator complex subunit 12 (MED12). Surgical specimens from 14 patients with uterine leiomyoma having fibroids and corresponding adjacent normal myometrium (ANM) were utilized to analyze genetic and proteomic expression patterns in the tissue samples. MED12 mutations in the fibroids were screened by Sanger sequencing. iTRAQ was used to label the peptides in small-, medium-, and large-sized fibroid samples of annotated MED12 mutation from the same patient. The mixtures of the peptides were fractionated by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) and analyzed by liquid chromatography—tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to identify the differential expression proteins. Using isobaric tagged-based quantitative mass spectrometry on 3 selected patients, ECM-related protein tenascin-C (TNC) was observed significantly upregulated (>1.5-fold) with a confidence corresponding to false discovery rate (FDR) <1% in small-, medium-, and large-sized fibroid samples regardless of MED12 mutation status. The TNC was validated on additional patient samples using Western blotting (WB) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) and confirmed significant overexpression of this protein in fibroids compared to matched ANM. Proteomic analyses have identified the increased ECM protein expression, TNC, as a hallmark of uterine fibroids regardless of MED12 mutations. Further functional studies focusing on the upregulated ECM proteins in leiomyogenesis will lead to the identification of novel ECM drug targets for fibroid treatment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle, Life Sciences Building 236, University Drive, Callaghan, New South Wales, 2308, Australia

    M. Fairuz B. Jamaluddin PhD, Prathima B. Nagendra MSc & Pradeep S. Tanwar PhD

  2. School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia

    Pravin Nahar MBBS

  3. Department of Maternity and Gynaecology, John Hunter Hospital, New Lambton Heights, New South Wales, Australia

    Pravin Nahar MBBS

  4. Clinical Research Design, Information Technology and Statistical Support (CReDITSS) Unit, Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton Heights, New South Wales, Australia

    Christopher Oldmeadow PhD

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  1. M. Fairuz B. Jamaluddin PhD
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  2. Prathima B. Nagendra MSc
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  5. Pradeep S. Tanwar PhD
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Correspondence to Pradeep S. Tanwar PhD.

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Jamaluddin, M.F.B., Nagendra, P.B., Nahar, P. et al. Proteomic Analysis Identifies Tenascin-C Expression Is Upregulated in Uterine Fibroids. Reprod. Sci. 26, 476–486 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1177/1933719118773420

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