Abstract 5306: Shotgun proteomic analysis of human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell line SQ20B with diminished AHSG expression

Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA The Alpha-Heremans-Schmid Glycoprotein (AHSG) has tumor promoting properties in animal models of breast cancer and lung cancer (1, 2). These cancer cells do not synthesize AHSG, instead utilizing the liver-generated glycoprotein that is abundant in serum. We have reported that head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cell lines synthesize AHSG (in press) and have also detected abundant AHSG in primary HNSCC tumors (unpublished). Growth in serum-free medium and in vitro tumorigenic properties, including proliferation, adhesion and migration, are diminished in the HNSCC SQ20B cell line modified with AHSG-specific shRNA to express only twenty percent of the wild-type SQ20B cell line (SQ20B-AH20) compared to SQ20B modified with empty vector alone and expressing the wild-type amount of AHSG (SQ20B-EV) (in press). Here we have used shotgun proteomic analysis to identify additional proteins whose expression may also affect these in vitro properties of tumorigenesis associated with AHSG. The two cell lines were cultured in serum-free medium to avoid the contribution of exogenous AHSG in serum. Cell lysates were obtained, and the proteins were separated in polyacrylamide gels in duplicate. Each full protein lane was cut into 10 pieces, in-gel digested with trypsin and analyzed with tandem liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS). MS data were analyzed against a recent human protein database. Proteins differentially expressed were quantified using a spectral counting approach. A total of 1386 distinct protein groups were identified in the two samples. Forty-eight proteins were differentially expressed in these samples (z score > 3, which corresponds to p ≤ 0.001, and Benjamini-Hochberg [statistical] FDR < 0.05). Proteins associated with the cytoskeleton, adhesion and apoptosis were over-represented in the group of differentially expressed proteins. Here we have shown that the human HNSCC cell line SQ20B exhibits changes in the proteome when AHSG expression is diminished. These proteins are critical for the tumorigenic properties of adhesion and migration. These data will help to identify mechanisms of tumorigenesis associated with AHSG in HNSCC. References 1. B. Guillory, A.M. Sakwe, M. Saria, P. Thompson, C. Adhiambo, R. Koumangoye, B. Ballard, A. Binhazim, C. Cone, W. Jahanen-Dechent, J. Ochieng, Lack of fetuin-A (alpha2-HS-glycoprotein) reduces mammary tumor incidence and prolongs tumor latency via the transforming growth factor-beta signaling pathway in a mouse model of breast cancer, The American Journal of Pathology 177 (2010) 2635-2644. 2. M.N. Kundranda, M. Henderson, K.J. Carter, L. Gorden, A. Binhazim, S. Ray, T. Baptiste, M. Shokrani, M.L. Leite-Browning, W. Jahnen-Dechent, L.M. Matrisian, J. Ochieng, The serum glycoprotein fetuin-A promotes Lewis lung carcinoma tumorigenesis via adhesive-dependent and adhesive-independent mechanisms, Cancer Res 65 (2005) 499-506. Citation Format: Dana R. Marshall, Victor Paramov, Siddharth Pratap, Georgina Iyamu, Amos Sakwe, Pamela Thompson, Josiah Ochieng. Shotgun proteomic analysis of human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell line SQ20B with diminished AHSG expression. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 5306. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-5306