ITRAQ-based proteomics analysis of tanshinone IIA on human ectopic endometrial stromal cells of adenomyosis

Purpose Adenomyosis is a diffuse or localized disease. Our previous study has indicated that tanshinone IIA (TSIIA) inhibits the proliferation, migration, and induces apoptosis of ectopic endometrial stromal cells (EESCs) of adenomyosis. However, the complex molecular mechanism of TSIIA in adenomyosis remains unclear. The objective of this study was to explore the complex molecular mechanism of TSIIA on EESCs.

In our present study, we used the proteomics approach iTRAQ (isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation) combined with LC–MS/MS (liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry) to investigate changes in the protein profile of EESCs treated with TSIIA. Differential proteins were analyzed by employing bioinformatics tools and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database. In TSIIA treated EESCs, the protein expression levels of TNFRSF10D, PLEKHM1, FECH, and TPM1A were detected by western blotting.

Quantitative results revealed 267 significantly differential proteins in TSIIA pretreated EESCs. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis presented an overview of dysregulated proteins in the biological process (BP), cell component (CC), and molecular function (MF) categories. Interestingly, we observed that differential proteins in the extracellular matrix (ECM)-receptor interaction pathway and estrogen signaling pathway were all involved in the focal adhesion pathway, which plays essential roles in the TSIIA-mediated inhibition of EESC proliferation and migration. Furthermore, some significantly differential proteins, which may be potential targets for the treatment of adenomyosis in the future, were validated by western blotting.

Our study provides a useful method to detect the detailed mechanism underlying the efficacy of TSIIA on EESCs. Similar content being viewed by others

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Int J Mol Sci 18(1):99 Funding This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province under Grant [no. 20181BAB215009]; the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant [no. 81660736]. Author information Authors and Affiliations Contributions YL: collected the data and wrote the manuscript. Z-mL: collected the data. LL: performed the experiments. YZ: edited the manuscript. X-yX: performed the experiments. ZZ: analyzed the data. F-YL: analyzed the data. LW: conceive and design the experiments. YX: conceived and designed the experiments, edited the manuscript. Corresponding authors Ethics declarations Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. Ethical approval This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Jiangxi Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital (registration number: EC-KY-201302, registered on September 18, 2013). Informed consent Because previous studies have obtained informed consent from patients, and our work is continued to former research, application for exemption of informed consent was approved by the Ethics Committee of Jiangxi Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital. Additional information Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Rights and permissions About this article Cite this article Luo, Y., Li, Zm., Li, Lp. et al. ITRAQ-based proteomics analysis of tanshinone IIA on human ectopic endometrial stromal cells of adenomyosis. Arch Gynecol Obstet 303, 1501–1511 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-020-05936-1 Received: Accepted: Published: Version of record: Issue date: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-020-05936-1