Analysis of differentially expressed protein in lung tuberculosis based on MB-MALDI-TOF-MS

Objective: To screen potential specific biomarkers in the serum of lung tuberculosis patients using pre-fractionated magnetic beads based sample fractionation method combined with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) technology. Methods: We compared serum proteomic profiling of 14 lung tuberculosis patients and 32 healthy controls by MB-MALDI-TOF-MS (MB-WCX and MB-IMC-CU). Results: By analyzing the spectra (screened from the two groups) using the ClinProTools software 2.2, 42 and 11 peaks had significantly different expressions (P<0.001) between the two groups of all 74 and 68 peaks generated from analysis of MB-MALDI-TOF-MS (MB-WCX and MB-IMC-CU). In addition, 8 of the 11 peaks were the same as those in the 42 peaks, and 17 peaks were up-expressed while 25 were down-expressed in lung tuberculosis patients with 42 peaks. Conclusion: We were able to identify proteomic patterns that can clearly distinguish between patients with lung tuberculosis and healthy controls based on MB-MALDI-TOF-MS analysis.