Valdivia Anddre Osmar, Ortega Kristen Jasmin, Bhattacharya Sanjoy K, Cray Carolyn
Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami, Miami, Florida 33136, United States.
Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Miami, Miami, Florida 33136, United States.
ACS Omega. 2020 Dec 15;5(51):33280-33289. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.0c04983. eCollection 2020 Dec 29.
A decrease of avian biodiversity in the African continent has been the result of anthropogenic pressure in the region. This has resulted in the African penguin () being placed on the endangered species list and requires conservation efforts to maintain its free-ranging population and placement under managed care. In the latter environment, infection by can be common. The diagnosis and treatment of this fungal disease in birds has presented with many difficulties, largely due to the diversity and limited knowledge that exists about this species. In this study, we implement a high-resolution capillary electrophoresis system for the fractionation of African penguin plasma, followed by mass spectrometry analysis for the identification of proteins associated with aspergillosis. Several protein differences were revealed, including changes in acute phase proteins and lipid metabolism. In addition, our results demonstrated that fibrinogen β chain is a protein largely present during the inflammatory process in an African penguin infected with . These findings present a new avenue for the measurement of plasma proteins as a potential method for identifying important biomarkers to aid in monitoring African penguin health.
非洲大陆鸟类生物多样性的减少是该地区人为压力造成的结果。这导致非洲企鹅（ ）被列入濒危物种名单，需要开展保护工作以维持其自由放养种群数量，并将其置于人工饲养管理之下。在后者的环境中，感染 可能很常见。鸟类这种真菌病的诊断和治疗存在诸多困难，主要原因是关于该物种的多样性和知识有限。在本研究中，我们采用高分辨率毛细管电泳系统对非洲企鹅血浆进行分离，随后通过质谱分析来鉴定与曲霉病相关的蛋白质。揭示了几种蛋白质差异，包括急性期蛋白和脂质代谢的变化。此外，我们的结果表明，纤维蛋白原β链是感染 的非洲企鹅炎症过程中大量存在的一种蛋白质。这些发现为测量血浆蛋白提供了一条新途径，作为一种潜在方法来识别重要生物标志物，以帮助监测非洲企鹅的健康状况。
