Li Chunyan, Zhou Mei, He Xiaoyun, Di Ran, Zhang Zijun, Ren Chunhuan, Liu Qiuyue, Chu Mingxing
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.
Yunnan Provincial Engineering Laboratory of Animal Genetic Resource Conservation and Germplasm Enhancement, Yunnan Academy of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences, Kunming, China.
Front Vet Sci. 2023 Aug 22;10:1096762. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1096762. eCollection 2023.
Small Tail Han (STH) sheep, a unique Chinese breed, is recognized for its early maturity, year-round estrus, and prolificacy. However, the molecular mechanism of its high prolificacy has not been fully elucidated. The Proteomics approach is feasible and effective to reveal the proteins involved in the complex physiological processes of any organism. Given this, we performed the protein expression profiling of ovarian tissues during the luteal phase using polytocous STH sheep (litter size ≥2, three consecutive lambings) and monotocous STH sheep (litter size =1, three consecutive lambings) (PL vs. ML), and the follicular phase using polytocous STH sheep (litter size ≥2, three consecutive lambings) and monotocous STH sheep (litter size =1, three consecutive lambings) (PF vs. MF), respectively. Parallel Reaction Monitoring (PRM) was conducted to validate the differentially abundant proteins (DAPs). The tandem mass tag (TMT) quantitative proteomic results showed that a total of 5,237 proteins were identified, of which 49 and 44 showed differential abundance in the PL vs. ML and PF vs. MF groups, respectively. Enrichments analyses indicated that the DAPs including TIA1 cytotoxic granule-associated RNA-binding protein-like 1 (TIAL1), nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT), and cellular retinoic acid-binding protein 1 (CRABP1) were enriched at the luteal phase, while TIAL1, inhibin beta-a-subunit (A2ICA4), and W5PG55 were enriched at the follicular phase, potentially mediating reproductive processes in polytocous ewes. Furthermore, six DAPs were verified using PRM, confirming the accuracy of the TMT data acquired in this study. Together, our work expanded the database of indigenous sheep breeds and provided new ovarian candidate molecular targets, which will help in the study of the genetic mechanisms of ovine prolificacy.
小尾寒羊是中国特有的品种，以早熟、常年发情和多产而闻名。然而，其高繁殖力的分子机制尚未完全阐明。蛋白质组学方法对于揭示参与任何生物体复杂生理过程的蛋白质是可行且有效的。鉴于此，我们分别对多胎小尾寒羊（产仔数≥2，连续三胎产仔）和单胎小尾寒羊（产仔数 =1，连续三胎产仔）在黄体期（PL 与 ML）以及卵泡期（PF 与 MF）的卵巢组织进行了蛋白质表达谱分析。采用平行反应监测（PRM）对差异丰度蛋白（DAPs）进行验证。串联质谱标签（TMT）定量蛋白质组学结果显示，共鉴定出 5237 种蛋白质，其中在 PL 与 ML 组以及 PF 与 MF 组中分别有 49 种和 44 种蛋白质显示出差异丰度。富集分析表明，包括TIA1 细胞毒性颗粒相关 RNA 结合蛋白样 1（TIAL1）、烟酰胺磷酸核糖基转移酶（NAMPT）和细胞视黄酸结合蛋白 1（CRABP1）在内的 DAPs 在黄体期富集，而 TIAL1、抑制素β -a 亚基（A2ICA4）和 W5PG55 在卵泡期富集，可能介导多胎母羊的生殖过程。此外，使用 PRM 验证了六种 DAPs，证实了本研究获得的 TMT 数据的准确性。总之，我们的工作扩展了本土绵羊品种的数据库，并提供了新的卵巢候选分子靶点，这将有助于研究绵羊高繁殖力的遗传机制。
