Proteomics Analysis of Formalin Fixed Paraffin Embedded Tissues in the Investigation of Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the leading causes of death in men worldwide. The molecular features, associated with the onset and progression of the disease, are under vigorous investigation. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues are valuable resources for large-scale studies; however, their application in proteomics is limited due to protein cross-linking. In this study, the adjustment of a protocol for the proteomic analysis of FFPE tissues was performed which was followed by a pilot application on FFPE PCa clinical samples to investigate whether the optimized protocol can provide biologically relevant data for the investigation of PCa. For the optimization, FFPE mouse tissues were processed using seven protein extraction protocols including combinations of homogenization methods (beads, sonication, boiling) and buffers (SDS based and urea-thiourea based). The proteome extraction efficacy was then evaluated based on protein identifications and reproducibility using SDS electrophoresis and high resolution LC-MS/MS analysis. Comparison between the FFPE and matched fresh frozen (FF) tissues, using an optimized protocol involving protein extraction with an SDS-based buffer following beads homogenization and boiling, showed a substantial overlap in protein identifications with a strong correlation in relative abundances (r = 0.819, p < 0.001). Next, FFPE tissues (3 sections, 15 μm each per sample) from 10 patients with PCa corresponding to tumor (GS = 6 or GS ≥ 8) and adjacent benign regions were processed with the optimized protocol. Extracted proteins were analyzed by GeLC-MS/MS followed by statistical and bioinformatics analysis. Proteins significantly deregulated between PCa GS ≥ 8 and PCa GS = 6 represented extracellular matrix organization, gluconeogenesis, and phosphorylation pathways. Proteins deregulated between cancerous and adjacent benign tissues, reflected increased translation, peptide synthesis, and protein metabolism in the former, which is consistent with the literature. In conclusion, the results support the relevance of the proteomic findings in the context of PCa and the reliability of the optimized protocol for proteomics analysis of FFPE material.