Proteomic analysis of pelvic autonomic nerve in nerve-sparing radical hysterectomy for cervical carcinoma

Background/Aim: This study was designed to identify candidate proteins which can be used for visualization of pelvic autonomic nerve during nerve-sparing surgery. Materials and Methods: Both soft tissue and vesical branch of the inferior hypogastric nerve from five women were collected during surgery. These 10 tissue specimens were analysed using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and Human Protein Atlas (HPA) for protein expression. The existence of nerve fibres was confirmed using haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and anti-S-100 staining. Results: A total of 413 proteins were detected. There were three proteins (isoform 1 of fibronectin, protein S100-A8 and A9) which implied a relation with pelvic autonomic nerve. In nerve tissue from one case, the existence of nerve fibre was not confirmed. Conclusion: Further large studies are expected to present more nerve-specific candidate proteins which can be used for the easy and safe identification of autonomic nerves.