Current Protein and Peptide Science - Volume 15, Issue 2, 2014

One of the major challenges in pig production is managing digestive health to maximize feed conversion and growth rates, but also to minimize treatment costs and to warrant public health. There is a great interest in the development of useful tools for intestinal health monitoring and the investigation of possible prophylactic/ therapeutic intervention pathways. A great variety of in vivo and in vitro intestinal models of study have been developed in the recent years. The understanding of such a complex system as the intestinal system (IS), and the study of its physiology and pathology is not an easy task. Analysis of such a complex system requires the use of systems biology techniques, like proteomics. However, for a correct interpretation of results and to maximize analysis performance, a careful selection of the IS model of study and proteomic platform is required. The study of the IS system is especially important in the pig, a species whose farming requires a very careful management of husbandry procedures regarding feeding and nutrition. The incorrect management of the pig digestive system leads directly to economic losses related suboptimal growth and feed utilization and/or the appearance of intestinal infections, in particular diarrhea. Furthermore, this species is the most suitable experimental model for human IS studies. Proteomics has risen as one of the most promising approaches to study the pig IS. In this review, we describe the most useful models of IS research in porcine and the different proteomic platforms available. An overview of the recent findings in pig IS proteomics is also provided.

It is rapidly emerging that the tender meat phenotype is affected by an enormous amount of variables, not only tied to genetics (livestock breeding selection), but also to extrinsic factors, such as feeding conditions, physical activity, rearing environment, administration of hormonal growth promotants, pre-slaughter handling and stress. Proteomics has been widely accepted by meat scientists over the last years and is now commonly used to shed light on the postmortem processes involved in meat tenderization. This review discusses the latest findings with the use of proteomics and systems biology to study the different biochemical pathways postmortem aiming at understanding the concerted action of different molecular mechanisms responsible for meat quality. The conversion of muscle to meat postmortem can be described as a sequence of events involving molecular pathways controlled by a complex interplay of many factors. Among the different pathways emerging are the influence of apoptosis and lately also the role of autophagy in muscle postmortem development. This review thus, focus on how systems-wide integrated investigations (metabolomics, transcriptomics, interactomics, phosphoproteomics, mathematical modeling), which have emerged as complementary tools to proteomics, have helped establishing a few milestones in our understanding of the events leading from muscle to meat conver.

In order to cope with the increasing demand for fishery products, sensitive technological tools are required to ensure high quality and wholesomeness and to monitor their production process in a sustainable manner while complying with the strict standards imposed by regulatory authorities. Proteomics may assist the industry as it allows an unbiased approach in the discovery of biomarkers that could be used to increase our understanding of different biological, physiological and ecological aspects that may be advantageous in optimizing quality and safety in aquatic species. The aim of this review is to highlight the potential of cost-effective high-throughput technologies, such as those offered by proteomics using "on-line" mass spectrometry to improve the efficiency of the industry in identifying biomarkers relevant for safe high quality products.

The rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is an important animal species widely used for biomedical research purposes, meat production and as a pet animal. There are numerous biomedical and scientific applications that include important areas such as antibody production, muscle, eye and circulatory physiology. The use of proteomics has been limited when considering this species. The aim of this article is to provide a review on applications of proteomics to the rabbit species, including those that are most relevant and where rabbit is a key species: muscle and circulatory system physiology.

Adipose tissue is not only a tissue where energy is stored but is also involved in regulating several body functions such as appetite and energy expenditure via its endocrine activity. Moreover, it thereby modulates complex processes like reproduction, inflammation and immune response. The products secreted from adipose tissue comprise hormones and cytokines that are collectively termed as adipocytokines or "adipokines"; the discovery and characterization of new proteins secreted by adipose tissue is still ongoing and their number is thus increasing. Adipokines act in both endocrine manner as well as locally, as autocrine or paracrine effectors. Proteomics has emerged as a valuable technique to characterize both cellular and secreted proteomes from adipose tissues, including those of main cellular fractions, i.e. the adipocytes or the stromal vascular fraction containing mainly adipocyte precursors and immune cells. The scientific interest in adipose tissue is largely based on the worldwide increasing prevalence of obesity in humans; in contrast, obesity is hardly an issue for farmed animals that are fed according to their well-defined needs. Adipose tissue is nevertheless of major importance in these animals, as the adipose percentage of the bodyweight is a major determinant for the efficiency of transferring nutrients from feed into food products and thus for the economic value from meat producing animals. In dairy animals, the importance of adipose tissue is based on its function as stromal structure for the mammary gland and on its role in participating in and regulating of energy metabolism and other functions. Moreover, as pig has recently become an important model organism to study human diseases, the knowledge of adipose tissue metabolism in pig is relevant for the study of obesity and metabolic disorders. We herein provide a general overview of adipose tissue functions and its importance in farm animals. This review will summarize recent achievements in farm animal adipose tissue proteomics, mainly in cattle and pigs, but also in poultry, i.e. chicken and in farmed fish. Proteomics advancement in adipocyte cell lines, have also been included.

A fundamental issue of farm animal welfare is to keep animals clinically healthy, without disease or stress, particularly in intensive breeding, in order to produce safe and quality food. This issue is highly relevant for the food industry worldwide as they are directly linked to public health and welfare. The aim of this review is to explore how proteomics can assess and improve the knowledge useful for the strategic management of products of animal origin. Useful indications are provided about the latest proteomics tools for the development of novel biotechnologies serving the public health. The multivariate proteomics approach provides the bases for the discovery of biomarkers useful to investigate adaptation syndromes and oxidative stress. These two responses represent the milestones for the study of animal welfare. Moreover their implementation in the characterization and standardization of raw materials, process development, and quality and safety control of the final product of animal origin represents the current frontier in official surveillance and tests development.