Endocrine disorders such as
dwarfism and diabetes show abnormalities in many different organs even if a certain
hormone is the primary cause of the disease. One of the aims of proteomics is to elucidate an abnormal
hormone network underlying dysfunction in the disease through quantitative and qualitative
proteome analyses of various organs. In a comprehensive study of the rdw rat with hereditary
dwarfism, we found the accumulation of ER
proteins in the rdw thyroid. Contrary to the initial notion that the
dwarfism of the rat was caused by genetic mutations related to
pituitary hormones, the primary cause is a missense mutation in the
thyroglobulin gene. To understand at the
protein level cellular damage caused by oxidative stress, we developed a proteomic method and applied to detecting
protein carbonyls in various organs of a diabetes model OLETF rat. The method would provide a means toward clarifying a comprehensive view of oxidative modifications of
proteins in diabetes. We review 2-DE-based disease proteomics of endocrine disorders in general, with particular attention paid to our
proteome projects by a 2-DE method with an
agarose IEF gel in the first dimension (agarose 2-DE) and LC-MS/MS.