Pilot Study on Proteomics of Erythrocyte Proteins in Patients With COPD Based on TMT Technology

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a common and complex disease characterized by persistent airflow limitation, is a leading cause of mortality worldwide. COPD and its comorbidity are associated with hypoxia condition. Further investigations on the cellular and molecular aspects of hypoxia in COPD should help to reveal the mechanisms underlying the development of this disease. Dysfunction of the erythrocyte, a main medium to transport oxygen through the blood, contributes to the prognosis and severity of COPD through hypoxia. It is proposed that dysregulated proteins in erythrocytes that impair oxygen transport may be involved in the development of COPD. However, a comprehensive study on altered proteins of erythrocytes in COPD is still lacking. Proteomics techniques and protein chip techniques provide a high throughput screening method to figure out characteristic inflammatory or metabolic markers of diseases. Therefore, this study is to evaluate the clinical significance of differential erythrocyte proteins in the course of COPD disease.