RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Preterm infants, especially those born small for gestational age (SGA), are at risk of short-term and long-term health complications. Characterization of changes in circulating proteins postnatally in preterm infants may provide valuable fundamental insights into this population. Here, we investigated postnatal developmental patterns in preterm infants and explored protein signatures that deviate between SGA infants and appropriate for gestational age (AGA) infants using a mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics workflow. METHODS: Longitudinal serum samples obtained at postnatal days 0, 3, 7, 14, and 28 from 67 preterm infants were analyzed using unbiased MS-based proteomics. RESULTS: 314 out of 833 quantified serum proteins change postnatally, including previously described age-related changes in immunoglobulins, hemoglobin subunits, and new developmental patterns, e.g. apolipoproteins (APOA4) and terminal complement cascade (C9) proteins. Limited differences between SGA and AGA infants were found at birth while longitudinal monitoring revealed 69 deviating proteins, including insulin-sensitizing hormone adiponectin, platelet proteins, and 24 proteins with an annotated function in the immune response. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows the potential of MS-based serum profiling in defining circulating protein trajectories in the preterm infant population and its ability to identify longitudinal alterations in protein levels associated with SGA. IMPACT: Postnatal changes of circulating proteins in preterm infants have not fully been elucidated but may contribute to development of health complications. Mass spectrometry-based analysis is an attractive approach to study circulating proteins in preterm infants with limited material. Longitudinal plasma profiling reveals postnatal developmental-related patterns in preterm infants (314/833 proteins) including previously described changes, but also previously unreported proteins. Longitudinal monitoring revealed an immune response signature between SGA and AGA infants. This study highlights the importance of taking postnatal changes into account for translational studies in preterm infants.
RESUMO
Sulfate is an important anion as sulfonation is essential in modulation of several compounds, such as exogens, polysaccharide chains of proteoglycans, cholesterol or cholesterol derivatives and tyrosine residues of several proteins. Sulfonation requires the presence of both the sulfate donor 3'-phosphoadenosine-5'-phosphosulfate (PAPS) and a sulfotransferase. Genetic disorders affecting sulfonation, associated with skeletal abnormalities, impaired neurological development and endocrinopathies, demonstrate the importance of sulfate. Yet sulfate is not measured in clinical practice. This review addresses sulfate metabolism and consequences of sulfonation defects, how to measure sulfate and why we should measure sulfate more often.