Tissue expression analysis of cervical mucus proteome

Abstract

Cervical mucus is a viscous fluid functioning as a uterine cervix plug. In cervical mucus, we can detect the products of the endometrial glands and cervical glands. Cervical mucus is further enriched with transudate of Fallopian tube origin and expressed ovarian, peritoneal, and proteins of remote tissues. With increasing levels of ovarian estrogens, the properties of cervical mucus for possible collection and processing change appropriately. For these reasons, we chose a group of 10 patients treated in the center of assisted reproduction by controlled ovarian stimulation for in vitro fertilization. Our study focuses on the proteomic characterization of cervical mucus and localizes the possible sources of the identified proteins. The most abundant proteins were extracellular proteins, mainly mucins; however, most of the identified proteins, present usually in lower quantities, were of intracellular origin. The tissue analysis revealed that proteins from female reproductive organs are also expressed in the other tissues, but also proteins specific to the testis, skeletal muscle liver, placenta, retina, and cerebellum. This study confirms the suitability and high potential of cervical mucus proteome analysis for biomarker studies.