OBJECTIVE: To detect the differences in the expression of proteomes in the liver tissue of male and female mice, and to explore the mechanism of gender differences in the occurrence of liver diseases.
METHODS: Two-dimensional fluorescence differential gel electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry were used to detect the proteome differential expression profiles of liver tissues of C57BL/6J mice. Bioinformatics analysis of differentially expressed proteins, including protein functional annotation, taxonomic analysis, and pathway analysis of the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes.
RESULTS: 1767 protein spots were obtained by two-dimensional fluorescence difference gel electrophoresis-image analysis, of which 325 protein spots were with a difference fold ≥1.5 (P<0.05). 78 differentially expressed protein spots were selected for MALDI-TOF-MS identification, and 48 differentially expressed proteins were obtained. Among them, compared with female mice, there were 14 high-expressed proteins and 34 low-expressed proteins in the liver tissue of male mice. Six differential protein spots were selected for Western blot verification, which proved the reliability of the 2D-DIGE results. The results of GO analysis showed that the differential proteins involved in the liver tissue of male and female mice were widely distributed in cellular components, molecular functions, and biological processes. KEGG pathway analysis found that the differential proteins involved 6 signaling pathways.
Conclusion: The detection results of differential protein expression in the liver tissue of C57BL/6J mice provide basic biological information and useful clues for studying the molecular mechanism of sex-differentiated liver disease.