Identification of two-dimensional electrophoresis-separated proteins in human hepatoma cell by electrospray ion trap mass spectrometry

As one of the most important analytical methods in proteome research, mass spectrometry was utilized to identify proteins separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis in the human hepatoma cell line BEL-7404. The protein spots were excised from the gel, followed by in-gel digestion, and the peptide mappings were analyzed by liquid chromatography electrospray ion trap mass spectrometer. Nine proteins were identified via database searching, according to the molecular weights and amino acid sequences of peptides, among which two proteins have not been identified in the other liver-cell database. The sequence coverage was 21% –72%. Furthermore, the relationship between the expressed proteins and the liver carcinoma was discussed.