Tandem Mass Tag-Based Quantitative Proteomics Analysis of Gonads Reveals New Insight into Sexual Reversal Mechanism in Chinese Soft-Shelled Turtles

Abstract

Chinese soft-shelled turtles display obvious sex dimorphism. The exogenous application of hormones (estradiol and methyltestosterone) can change the direction of gonadal differentiation of P. sinensis to produce sex reversed individuals. However, the molecular mechanism remains unclear. In this study, TMT-based quantitative proteomics analysis of four types of P. sinensis (female, male, pseudo-female, and pseudo-male) gonads were compared. Quantitative analysis of 6107 labeled proteins in the four types of P. sinensis gonads was performed. We identified 440 downregulated and 423 upregulated proteins between pseudo-females and males, as well as 394 downregulated and 959 upregulated proteins between pseudo-males and females. In the two comparisons, the differentially expressed proteins, including K7FKG1, K7GIQ2, COL4A6, K7F2U2, and K7FF80, were enriched in some important pathways, such as focal adhesion, endocytosis, apoptosis, extracellular matrix-receptor interaction, and the regulation of actin cytoskeleton, which were upregulated in pseudo-female vs. male and downregulated in pseudo-male vs. female. In pathways such as ribosome and spliceosome, the levels of RPL28, SRSF3, SNRNP40, and HNRNPK were increased from male to pseudo-female, while they decreased from female to pseudo-male. All differentially expressed proteins after sexual reversal were divided into six clusters, according to their altered levels in the four types of P. sinensis, and associated with cellular processes, such as embryonic development and catabolic process, that were closely related to sexual reversal. These data will provide clues for the sexual reversal mechanism in P. sinensis.

Effect of Exogenous Hormone on R-Spondin 2 (Rspo2) and R-Spondin 3 (Rspo3) Gene Expression and Embryo Development in Chinese Soft-Shelled Turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis)

“…The expression levels of gender-related genes can be influenced by environmental factors, including temperature, exogenous hormones, hormone mimics, or inhibitors [24,25]. E2 plays a critical role in the differentiation and maintenance of ovaries in vertebrates [26,27]. During the early stages of female sex determi-nation or differentiation, estrogen serves as a natural inducer of ovarian development [28].…”

Combination of metabolome and proteome analyses provides insights into the mechanism underlying growth differences in Acipenser dabryanus

“…Bioinformatics analyses were performed according to the method of Zhou et al. 47 Interproscan software was used to annotate the GO and IPR functions (including Pfam, prints, ProDom, smart, PROSITE and Panther databases), COG and KEGG were used to analyze the functional protein families and pathways of the identified proteins. Volcanic map analysis, cluster heatmap analysis and pathway enrichment analysis of GO, IPR and KEGG were carried out for DPE, and string DB software was used to predict possible protein-protein interactions( http://STRING.embl.de/ ).…”

Proteome analysis provides insights into sex differences inHolothuria Scabra

“…Proteomics presents a promising alternative for the discovery of candidate proteins that exhibit significant differences between genders. Quantitative proteomics has been applied to aquatic animals to analyze crucial proteins and pathways involved in oogenesis and sex reversal (32,33). Through label-free quantitativeproteomics (Labelfree) technology, this study examined the sex differences between the ovary and testis of H. scabra.…”