Proteomic analysis of SRA01/04 transfected with wild-type and mutant HSF4b identified from a Chinese congenital cataract family

PURPOSE: Congenital cataracts account for about 10% of cases of childhood blindness. Heat shock transcription factor 4 (HSF4) is related with human autosomal dominant lamellar and Marner cataracts; a T→C transition at nucleotide 348 was found in a large Chinese cataract family. The aim of this study was to analyze the unique role of HSF4b and the mutation of HSF4b. METHODS: The isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ), coupled with the two-dimensional liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (2D LC-MS/MS) technique, was used to identify and quantify differential proteomes in human lens epithelial cell lines SRA 01/04 expressing wild-type and mutant HSF4b. RESULTS: A total of 104 unique proteins were identified from the human lens epithelial cell lines SRA 01/04. Apart from the proteins due to the effect of the pcDNA3.1 vector, the wild-type and mutant HSF4b led to 23 differentially expressed proteins, of which four were histone proteins and three were ribosomal proteins. The T→C transition at nucleotide 348 in HSF4b led to 18 differentially expressed proteins in SRA 01/04, among which serpin H1 precursor, heat shock protein beta-1, and stress-70 protein belong to heat shock protein families. The up- or down-regulated proteins were functionally analyzed using Ingenuity Pathways Analysis (IPA) to interpret the interaction network and predominant canonical pathways involved in these differentially expressed proteins. CONCLUSIONS: A multitude of differentially expressed proteins was found to be associated with HSF4b and a T→C transition at nucleotide 348 in HSF4b. The proteins interacted directly or indirectly with each other, and they may provide clues as to how HSF4b modulates protein expression in the lens epithelial cells of SRA 01/04. Although further investigation is required, the results may provide some new clues to the transcriptional mechanism of HSF4b and cataract formation.