Quantitative proteomic profiling of pancreatic cancer juice

Pancreatic juice is an exceptionally rich source of cancer-specific proteins shed from cancerous ductal cells into the pancreatic juice. Quantitative proteomic analysis of the proteins specific to pancreatic cancer juice has not previously been reported. We used isotope-code affinity tag (ICAT) technology and MS/MS to perform quantitative protein profiling of pancreatic juice from pancreatic cancer patients and normal controls. ICAT technology coupled with MS/MS allows the systematic study of the proteome and measures the protein abundance in pancreatic juice with the potential for development of biomarkers. A total of 105 proteins were identified and quantified in the pancreatic juice from a pancreatic cancer patient, of which 30 proteins showed abundance changes of at least twofold in pancreatic cancer juice compared to normal controls. Many of these proteins have been externally validated. This is the first comprehensive study of the pancreatic juice proteome by quantitative global protein profiling, and the study reveals numerous proteins that are shown for the first time to be associated with pancreatic cancer, providing candidates for diagnostic biomarkers. One of the identified proteins, insulin-like growth factor binding protein-2 was further validated by Western blotting to be elevated in pancreatic cancer juice and overexpressed in pancreatic cancer tissue.