Analysis of Cancer Cell Line Secretomes: A Complementary Source of Disease-Specific Protein Biomarkers

Various types of cancer cells enrich or condition the medium that they are cultured in by secreting or shedding proteins and small molecules. These secreted or shed factors are involved in key biological processes, including cellular communication, proliferation, and migration, and are represented by protein families, including cytokines, growth factors, and enzymes. The rapid development of high-resolution mass spectrometry and shotgun strategies for proteome analysis facilitates the identification of these factors in biological models and elucidation of their potential roles in pathophysiology. Hence, the following protocol provides details on how to prepare proteins present in conditioned media for mass spectrometry analysis.