Aim: To initially analyze the protein expression in the rat hippocampus with the proteomics approach.
Methods: Proteins from hippocampal tissue homogenates of the rat were separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis(2-DE), and the proteins were stained with colloidal coomassie blue to produce a high-resolution map of the rat hippocampus proteome. Selected proteins from this map were digested with trypsin, and the resulting tryptic peptides were analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). The mass spectrometric data were used to identify the proteins through searches of the NCBI protein sequence database.
Results: 37 prominent proteins with various functional characteristics were identified. The identification of brain protein classes, like metabolism enzymes, cytoskeleton proteins, heat shock proteins, antioxidant proteins, signalling proteins, proteasome-related proteins, neuron-specific proteins and glial-associated proteins. Furthermore, 3 hypothetical proteins which are unknown proteins, so far only proposed from their nucleic acid structure were identified.
Conclusion: This study provides the first unbiased characterization of proteins of the rat hippocampus and will be used for future studies of differential protein expression in rat models of neurological disorders.