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Updated: Jul 18, 2026
Bioinformatics Resources for the Study of Glycan-Mediated Protein Interactions
Published on: January 20, 2022
[Identification of low-molecular weight prostate-specific antigen(PSA) and lactoferrin in the prostatic secretion of
1Department of Urology, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing 100044, China. cavinx@hotmail.com
Objective:
To investigate the expression of low-molecular-weight PSA(lw-PSA) and lactoferrin in the expressed prostatic secretion (EPS) from both benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and normal prostate.
Methods:
Forty human EPS samples obtained from 20 BPH patients and 20 normal males were subjected to two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE). Mass spectrometry was performed to confirm the nature of the secreted proteins in EPS.
Results:
One uniquely expressed protein in BPH was detected and mass spectrometry determined its nature as lw-PSA (molecular weight 10x10(3), pI 8.5-9.3). More importantly, Western blotting analysis also revealed that lw-PSA detected in BPH-EPS, but was undetectable in BPH-free EPS. In addition, up-regulation of Lactoferrin (molecular weight 35x10(3), pI 7-7.5) in BPH-EPS, as compared with BPH-free EPS, was also observed. More interestingly, lactoferrin was absent in prostate cancer tissues.
Conclusion:
Our results indicate lw-PSA may be produced specifically by BPH epithelium and it has a potential to be used as a specific biological marker for the diagnosis of BPH. In addition, benign prostatic epithelium can produce more lactoferrin while prostate cancer tissues go without its lactoferrin secretion.
