Pressure Cycling Technology Combined With MicroLC-SWATH Mass Spectrometry for the Analysis of Sex-Related Differences Between Male and Female Cerebella: A Promising Approach to Investigating Proteomics Differences in Psychiatric and Neurodegenerative Diseases

Purpose: Pressure cycling technology (PCT) coupled with data-independent sequential window acquisition of all theoretical mass spectra (SWATH-MS) can be a powerful tool for identifying and quantifying biomarkers (e.g., proteins) in complex biological samples. Mouse models are frequently used in brain studies, including those focusing on different neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. More and more pieces of evidence have suggested that sex-related differences in the brain impact the rates, clinical manifestations, and therapy outcomes of these disorders. However, sex-based differences in the proteomic profiles of mouse cerebella have not been widely investigated.

Experimental design: In this pilot study, we evaluate the applicability of coupling PCT sample preparation with microLC-SWATH-MS analysis to map and identify differences in the proteomes of two female and two male mice cerebellum samples.

Results: We identified and quantified 174 proteins in mice cerebella. A comparison of the proteomic profiles revealed that the levels of 11 proteins in the female and male mice cerebella varied significantly.

Conclusions and clinical relevance: Although this study utilizes a small sample, our results indicate that the studied male and female mice cerebella possessed differing proteome compositions, mainly with respect to energy metabolism processes.