Effect of PTFGRN Expression on the Proteomic Profile of A431 Cells and Determination of the PTGFRN Interactome

Prostaglandin F2 receptor negative regulator (PTGFRN)
is a transmembrane
protein whose expression has been previously implicated in cancer
metastasis. However, the exact molecular mechanisms by which PTGFRN
influences cancer progression are still unknown. As such, our laboratory
set out to investigate how PTGFRN knockdown affected the expression
of other proteins. We also carried out coimmunoprecipitation experiments
using a monoclonal anti-PTGFRN antibody. We employed mass spectrometry-based
proteomics for both experiments to identify proteins that were associated
with PTGFRN. Our data show that PTGFRN knockdown increased pathways
related to innate immune responses and decreased pathways associated
with the synthesis of metabolic precursors and protein processing,
among others. Additionally, the coimmunoprecipitation experiments
indicated that PTGFRN is associated with proteins involved in processing
and metabolism, as well as VEGF signaling molecules. These results
highlight the role of PTGFRN as a protein processing regulator, which
may be influencing cancer progression.