Bottom-up Proteomics of Saliva in Autoimmune Hepatitis and Primary Biliary Cholangitis

Autoimmune Hepatitis (AIH) and Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC) are autoimmune diseases that target the liver in which the immune system produces an inappropriate response to self-antigens resulting in inflammation, damage, and dysfunction of hepatic tissues. Despite progress in the understanding of the etiopathogenesis and in the diagnostic and therapeutic approach of these diseases, critical issues remain concerning the early diagnosis of affected individuals. The present study aims to detect and characterize by a gel-based bottom-up proteomic approach the acid-insoluble fraction of salivary proteome from patients affected by AIH and PBC with respect to healthy controls (HCs). The study was performed on the salivary acid-insoluble proteins after in-gel digestion starting from: i) the entire SDS-PAGE lane; ii) a portion of the SDS-PAGE at lowest molecular weight (MW

自身免疫性肝炎（Autoimmune Hepatitis, AIH）与原发性胆汁性胆管炎（Primary Biliary Cholangitis, PBC）均为以肝脏为靶器官的自身免疫性疾病，机体免疫系统会对自身抗原产生异常应答，进而引发肝组织的炎症、损伤与功能障碍。尽管目前在这类疾病的发病机制认知、诊断与治疗策略方面已取得进展，但在患者早期诊断领域仍存在诸多关键未决问题。本研究旨在采用基于凝胶的自下而上蛋白质组学方法（gel-based bottom-up proteomic approach），对比自身免疫性肝炎、原发性胆汁性胆管炎患者与健康对照（Healthy Controls, HCs）的唾液蛋白质组酸不溶组分，完成其检测与特征解析。本研究以经凝胶内酶解的唾液酸不溶蛋白为实验材料，实验设置如下：i）完整十二烷基硫酸钠-聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳（Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis, SDS-PAGE）泳道；ii）十二烷基硫酸钠-聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳中最低分子量（Molecular Weight, MW）区段。