An Attempt to find Changes of Post-Translational Modifications on Serum Proteins between Embryonic 15.5 Fetuses and Newborn Rats

Abstract

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) relate to protein functions via changing of their physicochemical properties. In order to better understand and evaluate the function of plasma, changes in serum protein PTMs between embryonic 15.5 (E 15.5) fetuses and newborn rats were investigated using high throughput proteomics techniques and an unrestrictive search strategy on PTM analysis. In this study, triplicate analyses of liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) were performed on the pooled specimens of E15.5 fetuses and newborn rats respectively, and single analyses of LC-MS/MS were performed on three individual specimens. The PEAKS 6 software was used for PTMs analysis and some PTMs were identified using the search parameters set in the software. In this preliminary study, most PTM ratios were extremely low and the modified peptide number was very small. This is the first attempt to explore the dynamic change of plasma PTMs during rat development.