Quantitative proteomic profiling of Cervicovaginal fluid from pregnant women with term and preterm birth

Preterm birth (PTB) is one of major causes of perinatal mortality and neonatal morbidity, but knowledge of its complex etiology is still limited. Here we present cervicovaginal fluid (CVF) protein profiles of pregnant women who subsequently delivered at spontaneous preterm or term, aiming to identify differentially expressed CVF proteins in PTB and term birth.

The CVF proteome of women who sequentially delivered at preterm and term was analyzed using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) coupled with two-dimensional nanoflow liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (2D-nLC-MS/MS). We compared the CVF proteome of PTB (n = 5) and control subjects (term birth, n = 7) using pooled control CVF (term birth, n = 20) as spike-in standard.

We identified 1294 CVF proteins, of which 605 were newly identified proteins. Of 990 proteins quantified in both PTB and term birth, 52 proteins were significantly up/down-regulated in PTB compared to term birth. The differentially expressed proteins were functionally associated to immune response, endopeptidase inhibitors and structural constituent of cytoskeleton. Finally, we confirm the down-regulation of SERPINB7 (a serine-type protease inhibitor) in PTB compared to control by Western blot.

Taken together, our study provide quantitative CVF proteome profiles of pregnant women who ultimately delivered at preterm and term. These promising results could help to improve the understanding of PTB etiology and to discover biomarkers for asymptomatic PTB.