Centre for Children's Health Research (CCHR), Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 62 Graham Street, South Brisbane, QLD, 4101, Australia.
Central Analytical Research Facility (CARF), QUT, Gardens Point Campus, 2 George Street, Brisbane City, QLD, 4000, Australia.
Mol Nutr Food Res. 2023 Oct;67(19):e2300404. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.202300404. Epub 2023 Aug 10.
Milk and milk products such as infant formula (IF) play a fundamental role in serving the nutritional needs of the developing infant. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) in human (HM) and cow milk (CM) contain molecular cargo such as proteins and micro(mi)RNAs that serve as functional messengers between cells and may be of importance to infant health. Most IF is derived from a CM protein base, however differences between HM and CM EV molecular cargo have not been extensively studied.
This study develops a pipeline using advanced proteomics and transcriptomics to enable cross-species comparison of milk and IF EVs. The number of nanoparticles per mL of IF is significantly reduced compared to unprocessed CM. 130 proteins and 514 miRNAs are differentially abundant between HM and CM EVs. While 90% of CM EV miRNAs are also identified in IF EVs, only 20% of CM EV proteins are identified in IF EVs.
This workflow identifies key species-specific differences that can be used to optimize IF recipes and enhance infant nutrition. Improved preservation of EV functional molecular cargo in IF products is of critical importance to retaining molecular drivers of good health and should be the focus of future investigations.
牛奶和奶制品，如婴儿配方奶粉（IF），在满足婴幼儿营养需求方面发挥着重要作用。人乳（HM）和牛奶（CM）中的细胞外囊泡（EVs）含有蛋白质和 microRNAs 等分子货物，它们作为细胞间的功能信使，可能对婴儿健康很重要。大多数 IF 来源于 CM 的蛋白质基础，然而，HM 和 CM EV 分子货物之间的差异尚未得到广泛研究。
本研究开发了一种使用先进的蛋白质组学和转录组学的方法，能够实现牛奶和 IF EVs 的跨物种比较。与未经处理的 CM 相比，IF 中的纳米颗粒/mL 数量明显减少。HM 和 CM EV 之间有 130 种蛋白质和 514 种 miRNA 存在差异丰度。虽然 90%的 CM EV miRNA 也在 IF EVs 中被鉴定到，但只有 20%的 CM EV 蛋白在 IF EVs 中被鉴定到。
该工作流程确定了关键的种间特异性差异，可用于优化 IF 配方，增强婴儿营养。在 IF 产品中更好地保存 EV 功能分子货物对于保留健康的分子驱动因素至关重要，应成为未来研究的重点。
