Intrinsic Bioprobes, Tempe, AZ, USA.
Proteomics. 2011 Sep;11(18):3633-41. doi: 10.1002/pmic.201100023. Epub 2011 Aug 9.
Transthyretin (TTR, or prealbumin) is a tetrameric protein found in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid. Its major role is to transport thyroid hormones (thyroxin-T4) and retinol (through association with retinol-binding protein). TTR has been studied extensively due to the great number of point mutations that result in sequence heterogeneity. Many of these variants are associated with pathological conditions that result in extracellular deposition of amyloid fibers in tissues. In this work, we have developed a rapid mass spectrometric immunoassay for determination and quantification of TTR and its variants from human serum and plasma samples. The assay was fully characterized in terms of its precision, linearity and recovery characteristics. The new assay was also compared with a conventional TTR ELISA. Furthermore, we have applied the optimized method to analyze TTR and its modifications in 44 human plasma samples, and in the process optimized a method for TTR proteolytic digestion and identification of point mutations.
转甲状腺素蛋白（TTR，或前白蛋白）是一种四聚体蛋白，存在于血浆和脑脊液中。其主要作用是转运甲状腺激素（甲状腺素-T4）和视黄醇（与视黄醇结合蛋白结合）。由于导致序列异质性的点突变数量众多，TTR 已被广泛研究。许多这些变体与导致组织中细胞外淀粉样纤维沉积的病理状况有关。在这项工作中，我们开发了一种快速的质谱免疫测定法，用于测定和定量来自人血清和血浆样品的 TTR 及其变体。该测定法在精密度、线性和回收特性方面进行了全面表征。新测定法还与传统的 TTR ELISA 进行了比较。此外，我们还应用优化的方法分析了 44 个人血浆样本中的 TTR 及其修饰物，并在此过程中优化了 TTR 蛋白水解消化和点突变鉴定的方法。
