Ultrahigh-Power Sonicator Lysis Enables Deep Proteomic Profiling of Hair Shafts for Fetal Growth Restriction Biomarker Discovery

The study introduces an ultrahigh-power sonicator (UHPS) to enhance protein extraction from hair shafts, overcoming the challenge of dense keratinization. This method, combined with Deep Efficient Peptide Sequencing and Quantification (DEEP SEQ) mass spectrometry, allowed for the quantification of 3,925 proteins from just 1 mg of hair. In cases of fetal growth restriction (FGR), 239 differentially expressed proteins were identified compared to healthy controls. These proteins were validated as potential biomarkers using parallel reaction monitoring and ELISA, showing strong correlations with FGR clinical indicators. This UHPS-DEEP SEQ approach represents a significant advancement in noninvasive biomarker discovery for perinatal diagnostics.