Proteomic analysis of the acquired enamel pellicle and saliva in patients with head and neck cancer that are submitted radiotherapy

Abstract

Cancer is one of the main causes of mortality in all world, and is currently a major public health problem. The acquired pellicle (PA) is a tegument formed in vivo as a result of the selective adsorption of salivary proteins on a surface of the tooth, which still contains glycoproteins and lipids. The presence of proteins in PA forms a protective interface on a tooth surface, participating in all the interfacial events that occur in the oral cavity. It is an organic film, bacterial-free, which covers the dental tissues. Studies that focus on characterization and not impact protector of the acquired pellicle formed on an enamel surface. However, little is known about how composition acquired pellicle in cancer patients with head and neck cancer undergoing radiotherapy treatment, which interferes with the amount and quality of saliva. Based on this, the objective of this study is to evaluate the protein profile of the acquired pellicle and saliva in cancer patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer and submitted to radiotherapy treatment. Twenty subjects, aged over 18 years, 10 participants without head and neck cancer, non-smokers, with good general and oral health and 10 other diagnosed with head and neck cancer submitted to radiotherapy. The acquired pellicle will be formed in the morning, for 120 minutes, after prophylaxis with pumice. Pellicles and salivas formed in different treatment periods (before, during and after treatment with radiotherapy) are collected separately for analysis using 3% citric acid-soaked paper. As samples are processed for nLC-ESI-MS / MS analysis. MS / MS spectra are obtained from human protein databases (SWISS-PROT). Free marker quantification will be performed using the PLGS software. (AU)