Integrative Proteomics Profiling for Understanding the Role of Genetic Markers in Liver Cancer

Abstract

Liver cancer is a broad term encompassing varying types. The focus of the current research will be on Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) primarily in the context of viral causes. HCC is the sixth most common cancer worldwide, attributing to 626 000 or 5.7% of new cancer cases annually. HCCs have a high incidence to mortality ratio because the tumours are resistant to chemotherapy. The low effectiveness of treatment may also be due to the fact that less than 40 percent of HCC cases are diagnosed at an early stage. The study uses GCMS analysis and multiple insilico tools for the identification of potential protein biomarkers in the blood samples of patients and healthy controls. After identification and filtration of potential protein biomarkers, their insilico analysis was performed. Computational analysis was performed for a target gene for liver cancer PPP1R163. About 800 proteins were identified in the blood samples through GC-MS. The proteins with a fold change greater than 50 were 16 which were found to have a role in cancer progression. Majority were playing their role in metastasis and there were few involved in anti apoptosis. The computational analysis of PPP1R163 showed that 15 Unique transcription sites were added out of which the transcription factor WT1-I acted as an activator to the complimentary transcription factor binding site in the PPP1R163 gene. The proteomics approach provides richer information about the cancer than existing approaches. A combination of proteins and gene biomarkers provides more accurate diagnosis of cancer. These identified biomarkers will help in the early detection of tumour and the designing of effective therapeutics for patients.