New research into tear proteins may help with diagnosis of Sjogren's syndrome

 

Purpose of the study

To further develop the understanding of tears and their biomarkers for diagnosing diseases. Multiple studies have shown the potential of tear proteomics for discovering diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of several ocular and systemic diseases, including dry eye disease, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, cancer, systemic sclerosis, and cystic fibrosis. Due to its wide array of possible applications, an optimized tear-processing workflow holds immense potential. 

Proteomics refers to experiments that attempt to discover novel biomarkers for disease diagnosis, prognosis, or therapeutic management by using tools that measure the abundance of hundreds or thousands of proteins in a single sample.

Methods used

Researchers collected tear samples from 11 healthy subjects and then tested four different ways of analyzing the protein content in these tear samples. They discovered an effective approach by combining in-strip digestion and higher-energy collisional dissociation (HCD) that found 3,370 unique proteins across all the samples.

Results

The researchers have found a quick, non-invasive way of collecting tear fluid and analyzing the proteins in it which could eventually help diagnose Sjögren’s syndrome.

Conclusions

In this study, we have compared different mass spectrometry workflows and established a more sensitive and reliable method of tear protein detection and analysis that can be used for future tear proteomic biomarker research. 

The team now aims to build a large database of proteins present in human tears that will be freely available to other scientists. 

STUDY:  Comparison of Different Mass Spectrometry Workflows for the Proteomic Analysis of Tear Fluid at Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, USA.

Reported in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.