Proteomic analysis of tissue from α1,3-galactosyltransferase knockout mice reveals that a wide variety of proteins and protein fragments change expression level

PLoS One. 2013 Nov 14;8(11):e80600. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0080600. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

A barrier in a pig-to-man xenotransplantation is that the Galα1-3Galβ1-4GlcNAc-R carbohydrate (α-Gal epitope) expressed on pig endothelial cells reacts with naturally occurring antibodies in the recipient's blood leading to rejection. Deletion of the α1,3-galactosyltransferase gene prevents the synthesis of the α-Gal epitope. Therefore, knockout models of the α1,3-galactosyltransferase gene are widely used to study xenotransplantation. We have performed proteomic studies on liver and pancreas tissues from wild type and α1,3-galactosyltransferase gene knockout mice. The tissues were analyzed by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The analyses revealed that a wide variety of proteins and protein fragments are differentially expressed suggesting that knockout of the α1,3-galactosyltransferase gene affects the expression of several other genes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Chromatography, Liquid
  • Galactosyltransferases / genetics
  • Galactosyltransferases / metabolism*
  • Liver / enzymology
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Pancreas / enzymology
  • Proteomics
  • Swine
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Substances

  • Galactosyltransferases

Grants and funding

The work was supported by the Bagger-Sørensen Foundation, the John and Birthe Meyer Foundation and the MEMBRANES Center at Aarhus University. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.