Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2023, Vol. 18 ›› Issue (1): 155-161.doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.343886

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Tandem Mass Tag-based proteomics analysis reveals the vital role of inflammation in traumatic brain injury in a mouse model

Jin-Qian Dong1, Qian-Qian Ge1, Sheng-Hua Lu1, Meng-Shi Yang1, Yuan Zhuang1, Bin Zhang1, Fei Niu2, Xiao-Jian Xu2, *, Bai-Yun Liu1, 2, 3, 4, *   

  1. 1Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; 2Beijing Key Laboratory of Central Nervous System Injury, Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; 3Center for Nerve Injury and Repair, Beijing Institute of Brain Disorders, Beijing, China; 4China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Beijing, China
  • Online:2023-01-15 Published:2022-06-17
  • Contact: Xiao-Jian Xu, PhD, xjianxu@163.com; Bai-Yun Liu, MD, PhD, liubaiyun1212@163.com.
  • Supported by:
    This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81771327, and a grant for the Platform Construction of Basic Research and Clinical Translation of Nervous System Injury, China, No. PXM2020_026280_000002 (both to BYL).

Abstract: Proteomics is a powerful tool that can be used to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of diseases and identify new biomarkers. Therefore, it may also be helpful for understanding the detailed pathological mechanism of traumatic brain injury (TBI). In this study, we performed Tandem Mass Tag-based quantitative analysis of cortical proteome profiles in a mouse model of TBI. Our results showed that there were 302 differentially expressed proteins in TBI mice compared with normal mice 7 days after injury. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analyses showed that these differentially expressed proteins were predominantly involved in inflammatory responses, including complement and coagulation cascades, as well as chemokine signaling pathways. Subsequent transcription factor analysis revealed that the inflammation-related transcription factors NF-κB1, RelA, IRF1, STAT1, and Spi1 play pivotal roles in the secondary injury that occurs after TBI, which further corroborates the functional enrichment for inflammatory factors. Our results suggest that inflammation-related proteins and inflammatory responses are promising targets for the treatment of TBI. 

Key words: bioinformatics, complement cascade, mass spectrometry, neuroinflammation, proteomics, secondary injury, subacute phase, tandem mass tag, transcription factor, traumatic brain injury