Proteomics Study on the Differentially Expressed Proteins in c-fos-silenced Cells Exposed to PM 2.5.

Objective  To investigate the effect of c-fos gene silencing on differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cells after exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Methods  HBE cells and c-fos-silenced HBE cells were exposed to 50 μg/mL PM2.5, LC-MS/MS and tandem mass tag (TMT) labeling methods were combined with bioinformatics methods, and DEPs and interaction networks were identified. Results  In the HBE group, 414 DEPs were screened, of which 227 were up-regulated and 187 down-regulated. In the c-fos silenced HBE group, 480 DEPs were screened, including 240 up-regulated proteins and 240 down-regulated proteins. KEGG annotations showed that DEPs in the HBE group are mainly concentrated in the glycolysis/gluconeogenesis pathway and those in the c-fos silenced group are concentrated mainly in endoplasmic reticulum and the processing of proteins. Additionally, the abnormal expression of GPRC5C, DKK4, and UBE2C was identified in top 15 DEPs. After constructing the protein interaction network, 20 Hub proteins including HNRNPA2B1, HNRNPL, RPS15A, and RPS25 were screened from the HBE group and the c-fos silenced HBE group. Conclusion  c-fos gene affected the expression of cancer-related proteins. Our results provided a scientific basis for further study of PM2.5-induced carcinogenesis mechanism.