Comparative Analysis of the Tear Protein Expression in Blepharitis Patients Using Two-Dimensional Electrophoresis

Abstract

Change in the expression of body fluid proteins is caused by many diseases or environmental disturbances. The changes in tear proteins are also associated with various pathological eye conditions. Especially, chronic blepharitis is one of the most common conditions seen in the ophthalmologist's office. However, there are no specific clinical diagnostic tests for blepharitis, and it is difficult to treat effectively. Therefore, the aim of this study was to screen prognostic or diagnostic marker tear proteins for blepharitis and investigate pathogenesis of this disease using proteomics techniques. The tear proteins expressed in patients suffering from blepharitis (patient, n=19) and healthy volunteers (control, n=27) were analyzed using the two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) technique. The differentially expressed proteins in patients were identified with ESI-Q-TOF (electrospray-quadrupole-time-of-flight) mass spectrometry and confirmed with western blotting. Nine proteins in patient were down regulated about 50% compared to those of the control: serum albumin precursor, alpha-1 antitrypsin, lacritin precursor, lysozyme, Ig-kappa chain VIII, prolactin inducible protein (PIP/GCDFP-15), cystatin-SA III, pyruvate kinase, and an unnamed protein. The use of the two-dimensional eletrophoretic technique could give more insight into the disease-related protein expression changes in tear fluids. Our findings reveal that the composition of tear proteins in blepharitis patients is different from that of healthy subjects and may provide further insights into the pathogenesis of blepharitis.

Analysis of protein composition and protein expression in the tear fluid of patients with congenital aniridia

“…This function contributes to prevention of uncontrolled proteolysis and tissue damage [29][30][31]. The expression of these proteins in tears is also known to be reduced in several pathological conditions [32][33][34][35]. Cystatin S and lactoferrin are components of the corneal and the conjunctival epithelial defense against bacterial and viral pathogens.…”

A Cleavage-potentiated Fragment of Tear Lacritin Is Bactericidal

“…P. aeruginosa is an eye pathogen often responsible for keratitis in contact lens wear (41). S. epidermidis is a common cause of conjunctivitis and keratitis and is abundant in blepharitis (42,43), an eyelid inflammation associated with slightly altered tear composition, including selectively less lacritin (44). Lacritin without truncation had no effect on the appearance of colonies, with numbers equivalent to the phosphate buffer negative control (Fig.…”

PRR4: A novel downregulated gene in laryngeal cancer

“…However, their exact functions remain unclear. The downregulation of the PRR4 mRNA in tear fluid has been associated with pathological conditions including DES, thyroid associated orbitopathy, Sjögren syndrome, blepharitis and diabetic retinopathy (6)(7)(8)(38)(39)(40)(41). We hypothesized that laryngeal cells may also express PRR4 mRNA depending on the anatomical location in the larynx.…”