Protein Biomarkers of Bovine Defective Meats at a Glance: Gel-Free Hybrid Quadrupole-Orbitrap Analysis for Rapid Screening

Abstract

An understanding of biological mechanisms that could be involved in the stress response of animal cattle prior to slaughter is critical to create effective strategies aiming at the production of high-quality meat. The sarcoplasmic proteome of directly extracted samples from normal and high ultimate pH (pHu) meat groups was studied through a straightforward gel-free strategy supported by liquid chromatography hybrid quadrupole-Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) analysis. A stepped proteomic pipeline combining rapid biomarker hunting supported by qualitative protein Mascot scores followed by targeted label-free peptide quantification revealed 26 descriptors that characterized meat groups assayed. The functional study of the proposed biomarkers suggested their relevant role in metabolic, chaperone/stress-related, muscle contractility/fiber organization, and transport activities. The efficiency, flexibility, rapidity, and easiness of the methodology proposed can positively contribute to the creation of innovative proteomic alternatives addressing meat quality assessment.

Transcriptome profiling reveals stress-responsive gene networks in cattle muscles

“… Notes: Only QTL related to meat quality are shown in the table. * Proposed as a protein biomarker for high ultimate pH (pHu) meat in Sentandreu et al (2021) . …”

“…Stress was shown to markedly affect meat tenderness by increasing postmortem ultimate pH ( Purchas, 1990 ) due to the depletion of glycogen stores by stress prior to slaughtering, which leads to dark-cutting meats. Reliable indicators of the occurrence of high pH and preslaughter stress were identified in the sarcoplasmic proteome of muscle ( Fuente-Garcia et al, 2019 ; Sentandreu et al, 2021 ). They were mainly involved in metabolism, chaperone- and stress-related processes, muscle contractility/fibre organization, and transport activities.…”

“…Changes may be related to variations in protein activities, as well as in protein levels driven by changes in gene expression. Some studies have reported alterations in the muscle proteome of farmed pigs ( Morzel et al, 2004 ), chickens ( Hazard et al, 2011 ; Zanetti et al, 2013 ), fishes ( Silva et al, 2012 ) and cattle ( Díaz et al, 2020 ; Sentandreu et al, 2021 ). However, there are few data on the transcriptional response to stress in the muscle of meat-producing animals despite few studies in pigs ( Davoli et al, 2009 ) and in steers following surgery ( Zhao et al, 2012 ).…”