Identification of differential proteins in maternal serum with Down syndrome

Dr. Shao said "To date, a very limited number of studies have been carried out to analyze maternal blood in search for biomarkers of DS." "We have successfully identified the greatest number of potential DS biomarker proteins in maternal serum."

Dr. Yu said "We used the proteomic approaches of two dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and MALDI mass spectrometry and they proved to be of benefit in identifying potential serum biomarkers to detect DS."

Dr. Qiu wei Wang said "Among 29 proteins, two proteins ceruloplasmin and complement factor B (CP and CFB) were the most notable. Both were significantly increased in DS maternal serum and their functional roles suggest a relationship with the development of DS."

These differential proteins offers the possibility of further improving the performance of DS screening but Dr. Shao concludes that "it still needs clinical verification as a prenatal screen and we will conduct corollary studies to understand how these candidate proteins are related to the etiology and function of DS."

Dr. Steven R. Goodman, Editor-in-Chief of Experimental Biology and Medicine said "Prenatal screening for Down Syndrome has a rate of detection which is at best 75 to 85% with a 5% false positive rate and a lower rate of detection found in developing countries. The proteomic approach of Shao and colleagues offers new biomarkers which could lead to higher rates of detection and lower false positive rates. Further clinical testing of this approach is warranted based on this study."

Provided by Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine