AUTHOR=Liu Tao , Wang Guanying , Zhang Xingping , Liu Xin , Liang Zhengting , Ren Xiaojuan , Yan Deqi , Zhang Wenhui 

TITLE=B serum proteome profiles revealed dysregulated proteins and mechanisms associated with insomnia patients: A preliminary study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/integrative-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnint.2022.936955

DOI=10.3389/fnint.2022.936955

ISSN=1662-5145

ABSTRACT=Background Insomnia is a clinical problem of significant public health importance; however, the underlying pathogenesis of this disorder is not comprehensively understood. 
Methods To identify potential treatment target and unfold one of the gaps that were involved in insomnia pathological mechanisms, we employed tandem mass tag-based (TMT) quantitative proteomics technology to detect differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in serum from insomnia patients and controls. DEPs were further analyzed by bioinformatic platforms. In addition, parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) was used to verify the TMT results. 
Results Insomnia patients had poorer sleep quality compared with healthy controls. A total of 106 DEPs were identified between insomnia patients and controls. They were mainly enriched in immune and inflammation related biological functions and signaling pathways. Using the protein-protein interaction network, we screened the 10 most connected proteins as key DEPs. We predicted that 4 key DEPs were subject to targeted regulation by herbs. There were 8 key DEPs were validated using PRM in an additional 15 insomnia patients and 15 controls, and the results also supported the experimental findings. 
Conclusions We identified aberrantly expressed proteins in insomnia that may be involved in the immune inflammatory response. The 10 key DEPs screened may be potential targets for insomnia, especially FN1, EGF, HP, and IGF1. The results of this study will further our understanding of the pathological mechanisms of insomnia and provide more possibilities for pharmacotherapy.