Differential expression of skeletal muscle mitochondrial proteins in yakdzo and cattle: a proteomics-based study

摘要

Changes in yak mitochondria by natural selection in a hypoxic environment could beutilized to understand adaptation to low-oxygen conditions. Therefore, the differences inproteome profile of skeletal muscle mitochondria from yak, dzo, and cattle were analyzedby mass spectrometry, which were then classified into 3 groups, comparing between yak anddzo, yak and cattle, and dzo and cattle. 376 unique mitochondrial proteins wereidentified, including 192, 191, and 281 proteins in the yak-dzo, yak-cattle, anddzo-cattle groups, respectively. NRDP1 and COQ8A were expressed at higher levels in yakand dzo compared to those in cattle, indicating higher endurance capacity of yak and dzoin a low-oxygen environment. Gene Ontology (GO) terms of biological processes weresignificantly enriched in oxidation-reduction process, and that of molecular functions andcellular component were enriched in oxidoreductase activity and the mitochondrion,respectively. The most significantly affected pathways in Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes andGenomes (KEGG) analysis were Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and oxidativephosphorylation between the yak-cattle and dzo-cattle groups; while metabolic pathways,citrate cycle, and carbon metabolism were significantly affected pathways in the yak-dzogroup. ATP synthases, MTHFD1, MDH2, and SDHB were the most enriched hub proteins in theprotein-protein interaction (PPI) network. These results indicated that mammals living athigh altitudes could possibly possess better bioenergy metabolism than those living in theplains. The key proteins identified in the present study may be exploited as candidateproteins for understanding and fine-tuning mammalian adaptation to high altitudes.