molecules Article Proteomic and Bioinformatic Investigation of Altered Pathways in Neuroglobin-Deficient Breast Cancer Cells Michele Costanzo 1,2 , Marco Fiocchetti 3 , Paolo Ascenzi 3, Maria Marino 3 , Marianna Caterino 1,2,* and Margherita Ruoppolo 1,2,* 1 Department of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnology, School of Medicine, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy;
[email protected] 2 CEINGE—Biotecnologie Avanzate S.C.Ar.L., 80145 Naples, Italy 3 Department of Science, University Roma Tre, 00146 Rome, Italy; marco.fi
[email protected] (M.F.);
[email protected] (P.A.);
[email protected] (M.M.) * Correspondence:
[email protected] (M.C.);
[email protected] (M.R.) Abstract: Neuroglobin (NGB) is a myoglobin-like monomeric globin that is involved in several processes, displaying a pivotal redox-dependent protective role in neuronal and extra-neuronal cells. NGB remarkably exerts its function upon upregulation by NGB inducers, such as 17β-estradiol (E2) and H2O2. However, the molecular bases of NGB’s functions remain undefined, mainly in non- neuronal cancer cells. Human MCF-7 breast cancer cells with a knocked-out (KO) NGB gene obtained using CRISPR/Cas9 technology were analyzed using shotgun label-free quantitative proteomics in comparison with control cells. The differential proteomics experiments were also performed after treatment with E2, H2O2, and E2 + H2O2. All the runs acquired using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry were elaborated within the same MaxQuant analysis, leading to the quantification Citation: Costanzo, M.; Fiocchetti, of 1872 proteins in the global proteomic dataset. Then, a differentially regulated protein dataset was M.; Ascenzi, P.; Marino, M.; Caterino, M.; Ruoppolo, M.