2DGE and DIGE based proteomic study of malignant B-cells in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

With an objective of defining potential diagnostic and/or therapeutic markers and the mechanism of cellular transformation, we present a comparative proteomic study of B-lymphocytes from B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) patients and normal controls, using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and MALDI ToF/ToF tandem mass spectrometry. Our study led to the identification of 79 differentially regulated proteins in the malignant cells including proteins participating in proteostasis, cytoskeletal organization, redox homeostasis, and signal transduction pathways relevant to leukemogenesis. Principal component analysis displayed immunophenotype-/genotype-dependent variations in the malignant cell proteome. Our study adds new insights to the leukemogenic B-cell biology and prognostic stratifications