Slow off-rate modified aptamer (Somamer) proteomic analysis of patient-derived malignant glioma identifies distinct cellular proteomes

Abstract

Malignant gliomas derive from brain glial cells and represent >75% of primary brain tu- mors. This includes anaplastic astrocytoma (grade III; AS), the most common and fatal glioblastoma multiforme (grade IV; GBM), and oligodendroglioma (ODG). We have generated patient-derived AS, GBM, and ODG cell models to study disease mechanisms and test patient-centered therapeutic strategies. We have used an aptamer-based high-throughput SOMAscan® 1.3K assay to determine the proteomic profiles of 1307 different analytes. SOMAscan® proteomes of AS and GBM self-orga- nized into closely adjacent proteomes which were clearly distinct from ODG proteomes. GBM self- organized into four proteomic clusters of which SOMAscan® cluster 4 proteome predicted a highly inter-connected proteomic network. Several up- and down-regulated proteins relevant to glioma were successfully validated in GBM cell isolates across different SOMAscan® clusters and in corre- sponding GBM tissues. Slow off-rate modified aptamer proteomics is an attractive analytical tool for rapid proteomic stratification of different malignant gliomas and identified cluster-specific SO- MAscan® signatures and functionalities in patient GBM cells.