Proteome analysis of different tissues in pregnant women with gestational diabetes and type 1 diabetes mellitus

Abstract Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) represent distinct hyperglycemic states during pregnancy. Although proteomic alterations have been described in plasma and placental tissues in GDM, no study has comprehensively compared proteomic changes across multiple relevant tissues in both GDM and T1DM within the same investigation. Tissue samples of omental adipose tissue (OAT), placental tissue (PT), and skeletal muscle tissue (SMT) from pregnant women with GDM and T1DM were obtained during cesarean delivery. Protein extracts were analyzed using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and difference gel electrophoresis, followed by MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry for protein identification. Protein–protein interaction analysis was performed using STRING. Selected proteins were further examined by western blotting. We found that carbonic anhydrase 1 (CA1) emerged as the only protein consistently altered in all three tissues. CA1 was upregulated in OAT and PT in GDM but downregulated in the same tissues in T1DM; in SMT, it was downregulated in both groups. Alpha-enolase (ENOA) demonstrated a similar inverse pattern, being upregulated in PT and SMT in GDM but downregulated in T1DM. All of these changes identified by 2DE analysis were statistically significant (P < 0.05). The findings of this study demonstrated that CA1 expression was significantly upregulated in OAT and PT, and ENOA expression was upregulated in PT and SMT. These alterations may reflect differences in the metabolic and hyperglycemic environments of the two conditions and may represent candidate tissue-level markers. Further studies are required to determine their functional and clinical significance.