Screening differentially expressed proteins to distinguish thymoma (B1 and B3) from thymic cysts based on tandem mass tag (TMT) technology

Abstract

Abstract The therapeutic approach to thymic cysts remains a subject of controversy. Predicted biomarkers for identifying thymic cysts and thymoma (THYM) are crucial. In this research, patients diagnosed with thymic cysts (MTC, n = 6) and thymoma (B1, n = 6; B3, n = 6) were enrolled. Proteins of superior quality were subjected to TMT labeling and UPLC-MS, and differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were identified. Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), and protein-protein interactive network analyses were applied to the DEPs. Some key differentially expressed genes(DEGs) were corroborated through GEPIA 32. The pan-cancer expression levels of key DEGs remarkably linked with prognosis were determined utilizing The University of ALabama at Birmingham CANcer data analysis Portal (UALCAN). Eventually, 49 DEPs were identified in the B1 vs. MTC comparison (17 upregulated and 32 downregulated), 27 in the B3 vs. MTC comparison (8 upregulated and 19 downregulated), and 38 in the B3 vs. B1 comparison (9 upregulated and 29 downregulated). IL13RA1 (down), galectin-3 binding protein (LGALS3BP)(up), PRCSH (down), C3 (down), MXRA5 (down), TNN (down), CFHR1 (down), SUN3 (down) were jointly altered in both B1 vs. NZ and B3 vs. NZ. GEPIA validated that LGALS3BP was significantly upregulated in thymoma patients. In conclusion, LGALS3BP might be an essential biomarker to identify thymoma from the thymic cyst.

Keywords

• Thymic cyst
• Thymoma
• Proteomics
• LGALS3BP