Proteome Characterization of Glaucoma Aqueous Humor

Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. The proteome characterization of glaucoma is not clearly understood. A total of 175 subjects, including 57 primary acute angle-closure glaucoma (PAACG), 50 primary chronic angle-closure glaucoma (PCACG), 35 neovascular glaucoma (NVG), and 33 cataract patients, were enrolled and comparison proteomic analysis was provided. The samples were randomly divided into discovery group or validation group, whose aqueous humor proteome was analyzed by data-independent acquisition or by parallel reaction monitoring. The common proteome features of three types of glaucoma were immune response, lipid metabolism, and cell death. Three proteins, VTN, SERPIND1, and CD14, showed significant upregulation in glaucoma and could discriminate glaucoma from cataract. Mutual differential proteomic analysis of PAACG, PCACG, and NVG showed different proteome characterization of the three types of glaucoma. NVG was characterized with activated angiogenesis. PAACG was characterized with activation of inflammation response. SERPIND1 was discovered to play vital role in glaucoma occurrences, which is associated with eye transparency decrease and glucose metabolism. This study would provide insights in understanding proteome characterization of glaucoma and benefit the clinical application of AH proteome.