title: Tubulin isoforms identified in the brain by MALDI in-source decay.
abstract: Identification of biomarkers is a major issue for enhancement of chemotherapies. The molecular characterization of tissues necessitates the identification of thousands of biomolecules each participating in physiopathological processes. MALDI in-source decay (ISD) fragmentation has already been proven to be effective for protein characterization. However, the difficulty to identify proteins from complex mixtures such as tissue sections can limit the applications of this technique. In this study, we evidenced that tubulin has an unusual fragmentation pathway in the MALDI source. This striking property allowed the detecting of several mouse brain tubulin isotypes simultaneously by simply using laser fragmentation. Tubulin isoforms are consistent markers of a bad prognosis of solid tumors and could be the target of targeted chemotherapies. Such a direct molecular printout of tubulin in tissues is a milestone that should be useful either at preclinical or clinical stage.
authors.affiliation: Aix-Marseille Université, INSERM, UMR911 CRO2, 13385, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Rima
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ait-Belkacem
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Calligaris
authors.forename: Lyna
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sellami
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Villard
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Granjeaud
authors.forename: Thérèse
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schembri
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Berenguer
authors.forename: L'houcine
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ouafik
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Figarella-Branger
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Chinot
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lafitte
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization / Q000379:methods; D014404:Tubulin / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D014404:Tubulin