Westmead Dermatology We are delighted to have our research paper entitled “Investigating proteome changes between primary and metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma using SWATH mass spectrometry” accepted for publication in the Journal of Dermatologic Science. The pre-print is published online and accessible here.
In this study, we used our SWATH mass spectrometry platform to investigate the proteome profile of primary and metastatic cutaneous squamous cell (cSCC) lesions for the identification of potential diagnostic biomarkers and molecular alterations. We analysed the proteome profile of formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded samples of primary (n = 20) and metastatic cSCC (n = 25) lesions and quantified a total of 5037 proteins across the samples. We found that 19 proteins including ISG15, APOA1 and MARCKS with roles in metastasis were increased and 11 proteins including DMKN, APCS and CST6 decreased in the metastatic cSCC lesions relative to the primary phenotypes.
The proteomic data also separated the lesions based on their original histopathological diagnosis with the exception of two lesions; one primary cSCC lesion that was grouped with the metastatic lesions and one metastatic lesion that was grouped with the primary lesions. Interestingly, subsequent histopathological examination of these two lesions by our dermatopathologist showed that the proteomic classification is likely correct and the lesions may have been misdiagnosed in the first place.
Bioinformatics analysis of the SWATH data revealed that cell migration, cell survival and immune response are likely activated, and apoptosis is inhibited in metastatic cSCC lesions, indicating increased lesion complexity as the disease progresses from primary to the metastatic phenotype.
We believe that exploring these findings further will allow their translation into the clinic for improved tumour diagnosis.
