Revealing the secrets of the paediatric plasma proteome with SWATH-MS

The human plasma proteome is of great interest for biomedical research as a potential source of protein biomarkers. Most studies have examined plasma from healthy and diseased adults while analysis of paediatric plasma is very limited. In collaboration with Dr Vera Ignjatovic and colleagues from Murdoch Childrens Research Institute we recently measured the paediatric plasma proteome using SWATH-MS. Here, 40 samples consisting of plasma from neonates, children under one-year of age and children aged one-five years where compared with adult plasma. More than 100 proteins showed significant differential expression levels across these age groups. Use of APAF’s SwathXtend software allowed construction of a large reference library for peptide matching resulting in quantitation of 940 proteins across the sample set. This study demonstrates the age-related changes in plasma protein expression from birth through childhood to adulthood.

Bjelosevic S, Pascovici D, Ping H, Karlaftis V, Zaw T, Song X, Molloy MP, Monagle P, Ignjatovic V. Quantitative Age-specific Variability of Plasma Proteins in Healthy Neonates, Children and Adults. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2017 May;16(5):924-935. doi: 10.1074/mcp.M116.066720