Protein profile ana lysis of the breast microenvironment to differentiate healthy women from breast cancer patients

Abstract

Protein and proteomic high-throughput technologies provide the polypeptide signatures of nipple aspirate fluid (NAF), a breast secretion collected noninvasively from healthy individuals and cancer patients. As breast cancer develops from ductal–lobular epithelium, the analysis of NAF (mirroring the ductal–lobular microenvironment) is a useful tool for the analysis of metabolic pathways within the mammary gland, deepening our knowledge of the biomolecular mechanisms of breast cancer initiation and progression. The different protein expression of major NAF proteins, separated using 1D polyacrylamide gels, has proven valuable for the early detection of women with increased risk of cancer. The failure to recognize a single marker with sufficient clinical sensitivity and/or specificity has driven the identification of breast cancer multiple proteins by 2D electrophoresis. Mass spectrometry-based proteomic approaches (SELDI- and MALDI-TOF technologies) have allowed the characterization of differential NAF proteomic fingerprints between healthy individuals and breast cancer patients. The intraductal approach of protein and proteomic analyses may provide a panel of biomarkers to strengthen the armory against breast cancer.

Keywords::

• breast cancer
• diagnosis
• nipple aspirate fluid
• prognosis
• protein
• proteinase
• proteomics
• tumor marker

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Mrs Eleonor Cencherle for assisting in the English revision of the manuscript.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This work was supported by the Dr Susan Love Research Foundation (Grant Award 2007 to Ferdinando Mannello), Pacific Palisades, CA, USA. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Notes

GCDFP: Gross cystic disease fluid protein; HER: Human epidermal growth factor receptor

ICAT: Isotope-coded affinity tag; MS: Mass spectrometry; SDS-PAGE: Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.