Proteomic profiling of differentially expressed proteins after exposure to asbestos

Chrysotile is the most common type of asbestos produced globally. To gain a better understanding of asbestos toxicity, we used proteomic approaches to investigate the proteins differentially expressed in human airway epithelial carcinoma cells exposed to chrysotile. Comparative analysis revealed that 14 protein spots showed notable differences in expression between control and chrysotile-exposed cells. Of these, five proteins were up-regulated and nine were down-regulated. Notably, transformation-related transgelin and tumor cell migration-related cofilin-1 were up-regulated, while inflammation-related annexin A1 was down-regulated after exposure to chrysotile. These results raise the possibility that the 14 differentially expressed proteins might be candidate biomarkers for the diagnosis and treatment of chrysotile-related diseases.