Surface markers of human embryonic stem cells: a meta analysis of membrane proteomics reports

Introduction: Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have unique biological features and attributes that make them attractive in various areas of biomedical research. With heightened applications, there is an ever increasing need for advancement of proteome analysis. Membrane proteins are one of the most important subset of hESC proteins as they can be used as surface markers. Areas covered: This review discusses commonly used surface markers of hESCs, and provides in-depth analysis of available hESC membrane proteome reports and the existence of these markers in many other cell types, especially cancer cells. Appreciating, existing ambiguity in the definition of a membrane protein, we have attempted a meta analysis of the published membrane protein reports of hESCs by using a combination of protein databases and prediction tools to find the most confident plasma membrane proteins in hESCs. Furthermore, responsiveness of plasma membrane proteins to differentiation has been discussed based on available transcriptome profiling data bank. Expert commentary: Combined transcriptome and membrane proteome analysis highlighted additional proteins that may eventually find utility as new cell surface markers.

引言：人类胚胎干细胞（human embryonic stem cells，hESCs）具备独特的生物学特性与功能属性，使其在诸多生物医学研究领域展现出极高的应用潜力。随着其应用场景不断拓展，蛋白质组（proteome）分析技术的优化升级需求日益迫切。膜蛋白（membrane protein）作为人类胚胎干细胞蛋白组中关键的亚类之一，可作为细胞表面标志物使用。
综述覆盖范围：本综述系统探讨了人类胚胎干细胞常用的细胞表面标志物，并对已公开的人类胚胎干细胞膜蛋白质组研究报告，以及此类标志物在多种其他细胞类型（尤以癌细胞为代表）中的存在情况展开深入剖析。鉴于目前膜蛋白的定义尚存歧义，本研究通过整合蛋白质数据库与预测工具，对已发表的人类胚胎干细胞膜蛋白研究报告开展荟萃分析，以期筛选出可信度最高的人类胚胎干细胞质膜（plasma membrane）蛋白。此外，本研究基于公开的转录组（transcriptome）谱分析数据库，探讨了质膜蛋白对细胞分化的响应特征。
专家评述：联合转录组与膜蛋白质组分析筛选出了一批额外的蛋白，这些蛋白有望作为新型细胞表面标志物投入实际应用。