The salivary proteome profile in women throughout the menstrual cycle characterized by HR-LC-MS/MS

Generally saliva consists of mixture of proteins electrolytes and small organic compounds. This whole saliva stands for secretions from major (submandibular, sublingual and parotid) and minor salivary glands, along with crevicular fluid, bacteria and cellular debris. The secretion of saliva is regulated under the autonomic nervous system via signal transduction systems that couple receptor stimulation to ion transport and protein secretory mechanisms (Dodds, Johnson, & Yeh, 2005). SDS-PAGE is a unidimensional method used to analyze the molecular weights and charges of proteins by separating the proteins into bands, thereby making them visible. The most common use of gel electrophoresis is the qualitative analysis of the complex mixtures of proteins. Schwartz et al. proposed polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) as an adequate method to evaluate protein content in the human saliva. In this work it was aimed to study the saliva protein composition from different subjects by high resolution liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (HR-LC-MS/MS) on different days, throughout the menstrual cycle and the influence of ovulation.