Saliva Proteomics Shows Immune Activation and Metabolic Shifts in Female Jalili Syndrome Patients

Abstract

Objective Jalili syndrome (JS) is an autosomal recessive disorder with cone-rod dystrophy and amelogenesis imperfecta caused by CNNM4 variants. This study describes salivary proteome patterns observed in a small female JS cohort to characterize the oral molecular environment.Methods Unstimulated saliva was collected from three related female JS patients carrying CNNM4 c.1475G>A (p.Gly492Asp) and six age-matched female unaffected controls. Tandem mass tag (TMT)-based quantitative proteomics was performed.Results Eighty-seven uniquely quantified salivary proteins were identified. Thirty-three proteins showed higher abundance in JS saliva (log2FC > 0.6; adjusted p < 0.05), including neutrophil/innate immune proteins (MPO, CTSG, SERPINB1) and carbohydrate-metabolism enzymes (ENO1/ENO2, GAPDH, TKT, TALDO1). LDHA showed a group-specific detection pattern, being detected in all JS samples but not detected in controls under the current workflow. Functional annotation and interaction analyses highlighted themes related to innate immunity and carbohydrate metabolism.Conclusions In this small female-only cohort, the salivary proteome profile observed in JS was characterized by increased abundance of proteins annotated to innate immune defense and carbohydrate-associated metabolic processes. These findings are descriptive and should be interpreted in the context of oral clinical status.