Establishment of selected reaction monitoring (SRM) technique for proteins of interest in schizophrenia

• Grant number: 17/00025-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): March 01, 2017
• Effective date (End): February 28, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Chemistry of Macromolecules
• Principal Investigator: Daniel Martins-de-Souza
• Grantee: Guilherme Reis-De-Oliveira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/08711-3 - Developing a predictive test for a successful medication response and understanding the molecular bases of schizophrenia through proteomics, AP.JP

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a chronic psychiatric disorder that affects 1% of the world population that manifests through a wide range of symptoms. Schizophrenia is a multifactorial disease triggered by genetic and environmental factors. These genetic factors are able to change molecular pathways, through disturbances in protein expression. Thus, the quantification of these proteins enables the identification of potential biomarkers and better comprehension about pathophysiological mechanisms of schizophrenia. Selective reaction monitoring (SRM) is most suitable mass spectrometry-based technique for protein quantification, given its accuracy and sensitivity. This project aims to establish and validate SRM assays to quantify proteins differentially expressed in pre-clinical models, post-mortem brain tissue and blood plasma of schizophrenia patients. After proteome extraction of these samples, proteins of interest are going to be analyzed by SRM employing liquid chromatography coupled to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (LC-SRM-MS). SRM methods and data analyses will be built using targeted proteomics software as Skyline. The quantification and validation of these proteins will enable the search of potential biomarkers and elucidate molecular mechanisms involved in schizophrenia. (AU)