Identification of a novel proliferation-related protein, WHSC1 4a, in human gliomas

Dynamic changes in the expression of multiple genes appear to be common features that distinguish transformed cells from their normal counterparts. We compared the proteomic profiles of four glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tissue samples and four normal brain cortex samples to examine the molecular basis of gliomagenesis. Trypsin-digested protein samples were separated by capillary isoelectric focusing with nano-reversed-phase liquid chromatography and were profiled by mass spectrometric sequencing. Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome candidate 1 (WHSC1), along with 103 other proteins, was found only in the GBM proteomes. Western blot and immunohistochemistry verified our proteomic findings and demonstrated that 30-kDa WHSC1 expression increases with ascending tumor proliferation activity. RNA interference could suppress glioma cell growth by blocking WHSC1 expression. Our novel findings encourage the application of proteomic techniques in cancer research.