Abstract: [Abstract] Objective To explore the protein expression profile and key protein for plasma cell mastitis by proteomics techniques.Methods We collected the plasma cell mastitis tissues and adjacent normal tissues following surgical removal of affected tissues from 4 plasma cell mastitis patients.Then,we extracted the proteins,analyzed the differentially expressed proteins in plasma cell mastitis by applying isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) technology,and conducted functional enrichment analysis using these differentially expressed proteins.Results In our study,915 differentially expressed proteins were identified including 795 upregulated proteins and 120 downregulated proteins in plasma cell mastitis tissues.Functional enrichment analysis showed these differentially expressed proteins were mainly involved in cell adhesion,and inflammatory response.KEGG pathway analysis showed these differentially expressed proteins were mainly enriched in immune system associated pathway.Conclusion Differentially expressed proteins in plasma cell mastitis are involved in related signaling pathways and may be key molecules in the development of plasma cell mastitis.

Key words: plasma cell mastitis, isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation, proteomics, biomarker