Proteomic Analysis of Saliva: 2D Gel Electrophoresis, LC-MS/MS, and Western Blotting

Saliva harbors a wide spectrum of proteins that may reflect the health/disease status in the human body. Profiling of the proteins in saliva from a disease population can potentially yield valuable clinical parameters to be used for diagnosis and prognosis of the disease. Advances in proteomic technologies have enabled comprehensive profiling of protein expression in cells, tissue, and body fluids. When applied to readily accessible saliva samples from disease patients for biomarker study, such a global approach allows attaining the most discriminatory protein biomarkers that can best predict the disease status. In this chapter, we describe the protocols for proteomic analysis of saliva using 2D gel electrophoresis, Western blotting, and LC-MS/MS.