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Chinese Medical Sciences Journal ›› 2019, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (3): 157-167.doi: 10.24920/003504

• Original Article •     Next Articles

Regional Differences of the Urinary Proteomes in Healthy Chinese Individuals

Wu Jianqiang1, 2, Qin Weiwei3, Pan Li4, Wang Xiaorong2, Zhang Biao4, Shan Guangliang4, *(), Gao Youhe3, *()   

  1. 1 Medical Research Center, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College & Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China;2 Department of Pathophysiology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & School of Basic Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100005, China; 3 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Gene Engineering Drug and Biotechnology Beijing Key Laboratory, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; 4 Department of Epidemiology and Statistics, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & School of Basic Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100005, China;
  • Received:2019-04-22 Published:2019-09-30 Online:2019-04-22
  • Contact: Shan Guangliang,Gao Youhe E-mail:guangliang_shan@163.com;gaoyouhe@bnu.edu.cn

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Urine is a promising biomarker source for clinical proteomics studies. Regional physiological differences are common in multi-center clinical studies. This study was designed to investigate whether significant differences are present in the urinary proteomes of individuals from different regions in China. As shown in this Figure, a hierarchical clustering analysis of all identified proteins was performed to comprehensively define inter-regional and inter-sex differences in the urinary proteome. The results showed that all female samples were clustered into one group and that several samples in the same area could be clustered together. These results suggested that male and female urinary proteomes exhibited different patterns, and inter-regional differences were smaller than inter-sex differences.

Objective Urine is a promising biomarker source for clinical proteomics studies. Regional physiological differences are common in multi-center clinical studies. In this study, we investigate whether significant differences are present in the urinary proteomes of individuals from different regions in China.

Methods In this study, morning urine samples were collected from healthy urban residents in three regions of China (Haikou, Xi’an and Xining) and urinary proteins were preserved using a membrane-based method (Urimem). The urine proteomes of 27 normal samples were analyzed using LC-MS/MS and compared among three regions. Functional annotation of the differential proteins among the three areas was analyzed using the DAVID online database, and pathway enrichment of the differential urinary proteins was analyzed using KEGG.

Results We identified 1898 proteins from Urimem samples using label-free proteome quantification, of which 56 urine proteins were differentially expressed among the three regions (P < 0.05). Hierarchical clustering analysis showed that inter-regional differences caused less significant changes in the urine proteome than inter-sex differences. After gender stratification, 16 differential proteins were identified in male samples and 84 differential proteins were identified in female samples. Among these differential proteins, several proteins have been previously reported as urinary disease biomarkers.

Conclusions Urimem will facilitate urinary protein storage for large-scale urine sample collection. Regional differences are a confounding factor influencing the urine proteome and should be considered in future multi-center biomarker studies.

Key words: urine, proteomics, biobank, biomarkers, regional differences