Abstract: BACKGROUND: The specific molecular mechanism of the transformation from normal healthy people to acute cervical spondylotic radiculopathy has not been clear, which needs to be further studied.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the differential expression of serum proteomics between normal healthy people and patients with acute cervical spondylotic radiculopathy, and to find and identify potential specific serum markers between them.
METHODS: The serum samples of eight patients with acute cervical spondylotic radiculopathy and eight normal healthy people were collected, and the proteomic screening and analysis were performed by tandem mass tag combined with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry technology, in order to explore and identify serum proteins differentially expressed in patients with acute cervical spondylotic radiculopathy.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: A total of 183 significantly differential proteins were screened by tandem mass tag technology, and 11 significantly differential proteins were identified (P < 0.05). Compared with normal healthy people, three differential proteins were significantly up-regulated, including human leukocyte antigen-A, secretoglobin family 1a member 1, and protein 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase, and seven differential proteins were significantly down-regulated, such as immunoglobulin heavy constant gamma 3, skin factor, and myosin light chain 3, in patients with acute cervical spondylotic radiculopathy. Gene ontology enrichment analysis showed that these differential proteins participated in antigen binding, immunoglobulin receptor binding and other molecular functions. Protein-protein interaction analysis showed that among the common differential proteins between normal healthy people and patients with acute cervical spondylotic radiculopathy, HLA-A, HPD, PSMA3, DMKN, SCGB1A1, and MYL3 were located at the nodes of the functional network, and were closely related to the systems of body immunity, cellular inflammatory response, energy metabolism, and mechanical pressure. The significantly differential proteins HLA-A, HPD and MYL3 were verified by western blot, and the results were consistent with those of proteomics. To conclude, tandem mass tag combined with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry technology can be used to find the differentially expressed proteins in serum between normal healthy people and patients with acute cervical spondylotic radiculopathy. It is preliminarily believed that HLA-A, HPD and MYL3 may be specific serum markers of acute cervical spondylotic radiculopathy, providing a new direction for further research on its pathogenesis.

Key words: acute cervical spondylotic radiculopathy, tandem mass tag technology, serum protein, serum biomarker, bioinformatics