Identification of proteins with different abundance associated with cell migration and proliferation in leiomyoma interstitial fluid by proteomics.

Uterine leiomyoma is the most common female reproductive tract benign tumor. Little is known about protein composition and changes in the leiomyoma interstitial fluid (IF). The present study focused on changes in protein abundance in the IF of leiomyoma. Leiomyoma IFs and adjacent myometrial IFs were obtained and analyzed by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) coupled with mass spectrometry and western blotting for 2-DE data validation. A total of 25 unique proteins were observed to change significantly (P<0.05). Of these proteins with different abundance, 22 had not been previously identified in leiomyoma IF.