Slovenská chirurgia 4e/2023

Proteomic analysis of CD14 peripheral blood monocytes in patients with triple negative breast cancer

Approximately 15% of all breast cancers are classified as triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), which has the most aggressive phenotype, worst overall survival, and higher incidence of metastases compared to other subtypes. Peripheral blood monocytes have been shown to play a major role in the immunological response in breast cancer. Differential protein expression in CD14 monocytes of TNBC and healthy individuals was analyzed by quantitative protein profiling. Among 420 total identified/quantified proteins, 5 proteins were significantly changed (log2FC ≥ 1.5 or ≤ −1.5, p-value < 0.05), of which 4 proteins were downregulated (H2AC4, ATP5F1B, KLHL35, SAMHD1) and CYRIB protein decreased in TNBC compared to control group. In our study SAMHD1 protein, which is stimulated by interferon and regulated in primary human monocytes, was downregulated in TNBC compared to control (log2 fold change = -1.85, p ≤ 0.05), also present in Myc targets v1 signaling pathway, which was down-regulated (NES = -1.82, p < 0.01). The role of monocytes in the immunological response of patients with TNBC is still not completely clear, so further research is needed.

Keywords: proteomic analysis, CD14, monocytes, peripheral blood, triple negative breast cancer