Profiling of the dichloromethane-induced proteome expression changes.

A colorless volatile liquid dichloromethane (DCM) is used as solvents in chemical manufacturing processes. The major route of exposure is via inhalation and to a lesser extent through the skin and digestive tract. We investigated the effects of DCM on rats and analyzed their liver proteome expression changes. Approximately 1,100 protein spots that were detected by 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis showed reproducible abundance. Mass spectrometry based proteomics was used to characterize the changes in the liver proteome in response to DCM exposure. Consequently, 7 of these spots showed significant changes in expression level after DCM treatment. These proteins were 3 paralogues of glutathione S-transferase, beta 1 globin, 2 hemoglobin beta-2 and alpha-2 globulin. Of these, the expression of alpha-2 globulin was also confirmed by western blot. The differential expression of these proteins might be caused by DCM exposure.