Papers of the Week

Schwann cells (SC) are essential to the growth, maintenance and regeneration of peripheral nerves, but the proteome of normal human SC is poorly defined. Here, we performed a proteomic analysis by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to define the protein expression profile of primary human SC. A total of 19,557 unique peptides corresponding to 1,553 individual proteins were identified. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA), Gene Ontology (GO) and Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) were used to assign protein localization and function, and to define enriched pathways. EIF2, mTOR and integrin signalling were among the most enriched pathways and the most enriched biological function was cell-cell adhesion, which is in agreement with the supportive role of SC in peripheral nerves. In addition, several nociceptors and synaptic proteins have been identified and may contribute to the recently discovered role of SC in pain sensation and cancer progression. This proteome analysis of normal human SC constitutes a reference for future molecular explorations of physiological and pathological processes where SC are involved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.