The proteome of normal human iris, ciliary body, retinal pigment epithelium, and choroid

The iris is a fine structure that controls the amount of light that enters the eye. The ciliary body controls the shape of the lens and produces aqueous humor. The retinal pigment epithelium and choroid (RPE/choroid) are essential in supporting the retina and absorbing light energy that enters the eye. Proteins were extracted from iris, ciliary body, and RPE/choroid tissues of eyes from five individuals and fractionated using SDS-PAGE. After in-gel digestion, peptides were analyzed using LC-MS/MS on an Orbitrap Elite mass spectrometer. In iris, ciliary body, and RPE/choroid, we identified 2,959, 2,867, and 2,755 non-redundant proteins with protein false positive rate <1%. There were 43 unambiguous protein isoforms identified in iris, ciliary body, and RPE/choroid. Four “missing proteins” were found in ciliary body. The MS proteome database of the human iris, ciliary body, and RPE/choroid may serve as a valuable resource for future investigations of the eye in health and disease. The mass spectrometry proteomics data have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange Consortium via the PRIDE partner repository with the dataset identifier PXD001424.