Faculty Opinions recommendation of Shotgun proteomics implicates protease inhibition and complement activation in the antiinflammatory properties of HDL.
The data reported in this study underscore the promise of proteomics to better understand the complexity of biology and function of high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Liquid chromatography electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS), a shotgun proteomics approach, was applied to identify HDL-associated proteins - an important part of the information needed to unravel the anti-inflammatory and anti-atherogenic properties of HDL. The results clearly show that there are a number of serine protease inhibitors and proteins involving in complement activation pathways present in the HDL cargo. However, further functional studies regarding the roles of these proteins in cardioprotection are crucial.