Current Proteomic Analysis and Post-translational Modifications of Biomarkers in Human Lung Cancer Materials

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwideand is often diagnosed in the advanced or late stages. Thediscovery of candidate biomarkers in human lung cancer materialsholds clinical potential as well as a significant challenge.Due to a large number of proteins in human materials that formthe protein complexity and post-translational modifications(PTMs) of proteins, proteomic analysis of lung cancer biomarkersremains a difficult task. Many proteomic approacheshave been used to investigate the biomarkers in human lungcancer materials. In this review, we summarize the current proteomicapproaches employed for analysis of proteome profilesin human lung cancer materials and some PTMs causing differentproteome profiles and expression levels of biomarkers inlung cancer. In addition, bioinformatic tools for PTMs are usefulfor prediction of glycosylation and phosphorylation sites inproteins, which can help us further understand the correlation of PTMs and tumor development.However, it is necessary that proteome analysis of lung cancer materials be incorporatedwith new strategies and technologies to improve the efficiency of the analysis and toinvestigate novel biomarkers that would be very useful for further diagnostic and therapeuticapplications.