Comparative proteome profiling of bleomycin-induced lung toxicity in rats by 2D-nano-LC-MS/MS and spectral counting.

The mechanisms involved in bleomycin-induced lung toxicity have not been fully understood to date. This work aimed to compare the proteome profiling of bleomycin-induced lung toxicity by using 2D-nano-LC-MS/MS and spectral counting. By comparing the spectral counts of identified proteins between control and bleomycin-treated groups, we noted that 102 proteins were upregulated and 28 proteins were downregulated in the bleomycin-treated group. Among these differently expressed proteins, five proteins were chosen for validation by Western blot analysis. The levels of these five proteins were consistent with proteomic results. These potential mediators can facilitate the translation of the underlying mechanisms of bleomycin-induced lung toxicity to molecular targets in the clinical arena.