Proteomic Analysis Identifies Potential Markers for Chicken Primary Follicle Development.

Armughan Ahmed Wadood,Xingting Liu,Muhammad Waqas,Rana Waseem Akhtar,Dongyang Chen,Liping Pu,Jingyuan Wang,Lintian Yu,Yangqing Lu,Long Xie,Qaisar Shahzad

doi:10.3390/ani11041108

Abstract

Simple SummaryOur study presents a comprehensive approach elaborating the mechanism of primary follicle development in the chicken. The identified differentially expressed proteins of small and developing primary follicles (SPFs and DPFs) could be used as potential markers in chicken primary follicle development. The DEPs have their functional involvement in different processes including glycolysis, pyruvate metabolism, amino acid synthesis, and oocyte meiosis. The Anxa2, Pdia3, and Capzb have a connotation in primary follicle development. These findings were validated by real-time quantitative PCR and provided a basis for the exploration of DEPs as suitable makers related to the primary follicle development in chicken.Follicles’ development in chicken imparts a major impact on egg production. To enhance the egg-laying efficiency, comprehensive knowledge of different phases of follicular development is a prerequisite. Therefore, we used the tandem mass tag (TMT) based proteomic approach to find the genes involved in the primary follicular development of chicken. The primary follicles were divided into two groups—small primary follicles (81–150 μm) and developed primary follicles (300–500 μm). Differential expression analysis (fold change > 1.2, p-value < 0.05) revealed a total of 70 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs), of which 38 were upregulated and 32 were downregulated. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis disclosed that DEPs were intricate with cellular protein localization, the establishment of protein localization, and nucleoside phosphate-binding activities. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment pathway indicated the involvement of DEPs in different metabolic pathways such as glycolysis, pyruvate metabolism, galactose metabolism, and fructose and mannose metabolism. The current proteomic analysis suggested suitable markers such as Anxa2, Pdia3, and Capzb, which may serve as a potential role for primary follicle development. The present study provides the first insight into the proteome dynamics of primary follicle development and would play a potential role for further studies in chicken to improve egg productivity.

Highlights

Eggs are an inexpensive source of high-quality protein, essential vitamins, and minerals necessary for a well-balanced diet and a healthy life
The precision in the proteomic was assessed by calculating the coefficient of correlation and it revealed a significant correlation between replicates of each group
The experiment was performed in three biological replicates and a total of 716 and 744 proteins were quantified in SPF and developing primary follicles (DPFs) groups, respectively, and 464 proteins were found to be common between both experimental groups

Summary

Introduction

Eggs are an inexpensive source of high-quality protein, essential vitamins, and minerals necessary for a well-balanced diet and a healthy life. Current global per capita egg consumption estimates approach 9 kg annually but vary greatly on a regional basis. By. 2050, the world’s population is expected to reach 9 billion, with the highest population growth rates occurring in regions suffering mostly from food insecurity [1]. It is imperative to enhance egg production to fulfill the growing demand. The egg production is mainly vested in follicles development as these follicles had oocytes surrounded by the layers of granulosa and theca cells, intact with the oocyte plasma membrane. Thousands of developing follicles undergo atresia [1,2]. The chicken is an exclusive experimental model owning to ovarian follicles used to study follicular development [3]

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Conclusion