Saliva protein profiling for subject identification and potential medical applications

This study delineates a protocol to obtain a set of proteins from human saliva to distinguish objectively among individual donors. A small subset of proteins (<10%) of those identified by mass spectrometry from wet saliva samples allowed to discriminate among donors supporting the notion that most of the salivary proteome is highly conserved across subjects. Most of these discriminating proteins were involved with immunity, tissue metabolism and regeneration. They were already identified in other saliva proteome studies including those performed with dry saliva samples indicating the likelihood of using wet or dry saliva samples. The differences in the proteomes across subjects likely reflect a combination of different lifestyle habits, environmental factors, underlying diseases/conditions, among others, but not necessarily age. Application of such proteomic analysis has the potential to increase substantially the value of saliva as a source of proteins in forensic evidence.

本研究构建了一套从人类唾液中获取蛋白质组的实验方案，用于客观区分不同个体捐献者。从湿唾液样本经质谱法（mass spectrometry）鉴定得到的全部蛋白质中，仅有占比不足10%的一小部分蛋白质子集即可实现供体区分，该结果佐证了“大多数唾液蛋白质组（salivary proteome）在个体间具有高度保守性”的观点。此类具备区分能力的蛋白质大多与免疫、组织代谢及再生过程相关。这类蛋白质已在其他唾液蛋白质组研究中被鉴定出，包括基于干唾液样本的相关研究，这表明湿、干两类唾液样本均可应用于该类分析。个体间蛋白质组的差异大概率由生活习惯、环境因素、潜在疾病或身体状况等多种因素共同导致，但未必与年龄相关。此类蛋白质组分析技术的应用，有望大幅提升唾液作为法医物证蛋白质来源的应用价值。