Identification of proteins discriminating inflammation induced dysplasia from simple inflammation in ulcerative colitis by laser capture microdissection and label free proteomics – a pilot study

Chronic colonic inflammation in ulcerative colitis (UC) may induce dysplasia, which can itself progress and transform into neoplasia. Diagnosis of dysplasia in UC remains difficult particularly when tissue inflammation is present.
The aim of this retrospective pilot study was to highlight proteins specifically associated with inflammation induced dysplasia in UC. We performed a pilot experiment on 15 Formalin-Fixed, Paraffin-Embedded (FFPE) samples isolated from 5 cases of UC patients with a Polypoïd Pedunculated dysplasia (UC-PP). We compared the proteomes of the UC-PP, the inflammatory (UC-I) and the normal (UC-NL) tissues of each patient. We performed Laser Capture Microdissection (LCM) in order to collect only epithelial cells, avoiding inflammatory infiltrating ones. Label free proteomic analysis using a 2D-nanoUPLC coupled with a hybrid Quadrupole-Orbitrap was applied, as well as differential analysis on the paired samples. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) characterisation of one of the selected proteins of interest was used for validation.
Out of 985 quantified proteins, 7 were found significantly more abundant in UC-PP compared to UC-I tissues, with 6 being only detected in UC-PP using proteomics. One of these is Solute Carrier Family 12 member 2 (SLC12A2), also known as Na-K-2Cl co-transporter 1 (NKCC1), a protein involved in ionic balance, in T-cell migration promotion and in some features involved in cancer development like proliferation, migration or invasion. IHC results obtained were in correlation with proteomic results and showed that SLC12A2 was more abundant in UC-PP tissue than in UC-I and UC-NL tissues, with a signal clearly delimiting the dysplastic region from the surrounding inflammatory tissue.
This pilot experiment shows a different proteomic profile in inflammation-associated dysplasia and simple inflammation. This should be replicated using other types of dysplasia in IBD. SLC12A2 could be a potential biomarker of inflammation-associated dysplasia.