Figures 1A–1C demonstrate representative 2DE gel images of patients with BTG, PTCa and PTCb, respectively. Six protein spots, with altered abundance by more than 1.5 fold, were detected when 2DE gels of PTCa and PTCb were compared with those of BTG. Analysis by LC MS/MS Q-TOF and database query identified the proteins as alpha-1 antitrypsin (A1AT; three different protein species), heat shock 70 kDa protein (HSP70), protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) and ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 N (UBE2N) (Table 1). This evidence concerns the gene P4HB and pituitary adenocarcinoma.