Researchers Identify Over 10,000 Different Proteins in Cancer Cells

Researchers from Technische Universität München (TUM) have identified over 10,000 different proteins in cancer cells, in what is the biggest study of its kind to date. "Nearly all anti-tumor drugs are targeted against cellular proteins," says Prof. Bernhard Küster, Head of the TUM Chair of Proteomics and Bioanalytics. "Identifying the proteome the protein portfolio of tumor cells increases our chances of finding new targets for drugs."

The scientists investigated 59 tumor cell lines from the US National Cancer Institute. The "NCI-60" cell lines represent the most common tumor diseases in nine tissues (e.g. brain, breast, bowels, skin, blood). Cancer researchers in all parts of the world use them in their experiments. TUM bioinformatics expert Dr. Amin Gholami elaborates: "Before now, there was little knowledge on the proteome of the NCI-60 cell lines. But it is proteins that make the difference between a healthy cell and a tumor cell."

Proteins in tumor cells: a lot in common – and huge diversity

The scientists found over 10,000 different proteins in the NCI-60 cell lines. More than 5,000 of them are present in varying abundance in tumor cell lines of all types of tissue. "We can assume that this is the core proteome of cancer," comments Küster. However, the researchers also found some clearly distinguishable protein profiles between the tumor cells of different tissues – a clear indication that the tumor cells possess typical characteristics of healthy cells of the same tissue.

Source-Eurekalert