Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42686792›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2026

Integrated LiP-MS and quantitative proteomics reveal coordinated alterations in protein conformation and expression across tumor and peritumoral regions in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Zhen-Dong Chen, Min-Ying Yang, Xi-Ni Wei, Wei Qin, Li Xiao, Yin-Yun Qin, Rui-Ling Su, Yi-Wu Dang, Dan-Dan Xiong

Abstract read
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Article in Scientific reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Zhen-Dong Chen *Department of Pathology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Shuangyong RD 6, Nanning, 530021, P.R. China.
Min-Ying Yang *Department of Pathology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Shuangyong RD 6, Nanning, 530021, P.R. China.
Xi-Ni Wei *Department of Pathology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Shuangyong RD 6, Nanning, 530021, P.R. China.
Wei QinDepartment of Hepatobiliary Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Shuangyong RD 6, Nanning, 530021, P.R. China.
Li XiaoDepartment of Pathology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Shuangyong RD 6, Nanning, 530021, P.R. China.
Yin-Yun QinDepartment of Pathology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Shuangyong RD 6, Nanning, 530021, P.R. China.
Rui-Ling SuDepartment of Transplantation, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Shuangyong RD 6, Nanning, 530021, P.R. China.
Yi-Wu DangDepartment of Pathology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Shuangyong RD 6, Nanning, 530021, P.R. China. dangyiwu@gxmu.edu.cn.
Dan-Dan XiongDepartment of Pathology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Shuangyong RD 6, Nanning, 530021, P.R. China. xiongdandan@gxmu.edu.cn.

Funding

the Advanced Innovation Teams and Xinghu Scholars Program of Guangxi Medical University 2022the China Undergraduate Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program 202510598038the Joint Project on Regional High-Incidence Diseases Research of Guangxi Natural Science Foundation 2024GXNSFAA010057the Joint Project on Regional High-Incidence Diseases Research of Guangxi Natural Science Foundation 2024GXNSFAA010085
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) exhibits substantial molecular heterogeneity, yet protein-level alterations beyond abundance remain insufficiently characterized. Here, we integrated limited proteolysis mass spectrometry (Lip-MS) with 4D label-free quantitative proteomics to investigate conformational accessibility and protein abundance across tumor, peritumoral-near, and peritumoral-far tissues from HCC patients. Differential LiP peptides identified by both DDA and DIA corresponded to 725, 674, and 33 differentially conformed proteins in the Tumor vs. Peritumor-far, Tumor vs. Peritumor-near, and Peritumor-near vs. Peritumor-far comparisons, respectively. Quantitative proteomics identified 405, 365, and 4 differentially expressed proteins in the corresponding comparisons. Integrated analysis identified 488 and 469 conformation-specific altered proteins (CSAPs), which showed altered conformational accessibility without significant abundance changes, and 237 and 205 conformation-expression coupled proteins (CECPs) in the two tumor-involved comparisons. LiP peptide and protein abundance changes were positively correlated, with Spearman coefficients of 0.69-0.72, and more than 99% of CECPs showed concordant directions. Among them, 169 region-conserved CECPs (rcCECPs) were predominantly associated with metabolic and redox-related pathways. Protein-protein interaction analysis identified 30 hub rcCECPs. ACLY, ALDH18A1, GMPS, and DHX9 showed increased representative LiP peptide signals and protein abundance, elevated transcript expression in HCC, and associations with poorer overall survival. Peptide mapping further localized their differential LiP signals to specific sequence regions and annotated domains. Collectively, these findings provide an integrated view of regional conformational accessibility and protein abundance alterations in HCC and identify candidate proteins for further structural and functional investigation.

Indexed as

Carcinoma, HepatocellularLiver NeoplasmsProteomeProteomicsGene Expression Regulation, NeoplasticHumansMass SpectrometryProtein ConformationProteolysisProteome4D label-free quantitative proteomicsConformational accessibilityHepatocellular carcinomaLimited proteolysis mass spectrometryProteomics

Identifiers

PMID42686792
PMCPMC13538401

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.