Differential Protein Expression between Cystic and Solid Vestibular Schwannoma Using Tandem Mass Tag-Based Quantitative Proteomic Analysis.

Purpose Cystic vestibular schwannoma (CVS) and solid vestibular schwannoma (SVS) are subgroups of vestibular schwannoma (VS). The tumorigenesis of CVS and SVS have not been fully elucidated, and this study is designed to identify differentially expressed proteins involved in the tumorigenesis of CVS and SVS. Experimental Design Tandem mass tag-based proteomics is used to determine the protein expression profiles from CVS and SVS tissues. Results A total of 30 differentially expressed proteins are identified between CVS and SVS, with 6 being upregulated and 24 being downregulated. Bioinformatics analyses are performed according to Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses. These results indicate that two selected proteins (COL1A1 and COL1A2) are potential biomarkers for distinguishing CVS and SVS. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance Differentially expressed proteins linked to CVS and SVS are identified, and these proteins might provide potential biomarkers for human VS diagnosis. Furthermore, the present study supports the notion that decreased collagen might be the reason for bleeding associated with CVS.