Figure 2. Overexpression of proteins regulating metabolic pathways in the airway epithelium of high-risk individuals.

Increasing trend of expression of carbohydrate metabolic enzymes in cytologically normal airway epithelial cells from low-, medium-, and high-risk groups for lung cancer. Equal amounts of protein (20 μg) were pooled from each bronchial brushing lysate of each of the low-risk (n = 5), medium-risk (n = 5), and high-risk (n = 5) groups to create a 100-μg pooled protein lysate. Jonckheere-Terpstra trend analysis was performed with the risk groups using normalized spectral count obtained from LC-MS/MS data. Top row: enzymes involved in glycogenolysis and galactose supply that feeds glucose into glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway. Middle row: glycolytic pathway enzymes. Bottom row: TCA cycle enzymes.