Comparative quantitative analysis of OB proteomes of the CMS model rats
In this work, the OB samples used were from the same batch of stress-induced model rats in our previous work [25]. To sum up, SP and FS tests were firstly applied to assess the stress-induced depressive-like behavior such as anhedonia and behavioral despair. Subsequently, the EPM test was used to indicate the anxious-like behavior. On the basis of these tests, we obtained a subset of the Dep-Sus, Anx-Sus, Insus, and Ctrl groups. To some extent, our developed preclinical model was effective and useful for investigating the neurobiological components related with the susceptibility and adaptability of stress-induced anxiety or depression.
To determine the OB site-specific proteomic signature, an iTRAQ-based shotgun quantitation approach was applied to assess protein expression changes in the OB tissues derived from the Ctrl, Dep-Sus, Anx-Sus and Insus groups (Figure 1A). Five rats per group were used in this proteomics experiment, and the OB protein extracts from two or three rats were equally mixed for each sample [27]. The comparative proteomics identified and quantified 3,526 non-redundant proteins based on FDR lower than 0.01 (Supplemental Table S1). Comparing the OB proteomes of the Ctrl and the three stressed groups, a total of 133 stress-responsive proteins tended to be significantly abnormally expressed.
CMS-responsive deregulated protein function and interaction network features
By comparative analysis of OB proteomes, in the Dep-Sus group 12 proteins were found to be downregulated and 12 proteins were overexpressed. In the Anx-Sus group 18 down-regulated and 26 overexpressed, and in the Insus group 23 down-regulated and 64 overexpressed. Eight proteins along with similar disturbances were seen in the two CMS-susceptible groups, potentially representing the shared components of anxious-like and depressive-like behavioral phenotypes. Among the insusceptible and the two susceptible groups, we also observed that 14 proteins were similar de-regulations and might be as a result of stress (Figure 2A). Additionally, the deregulated proteins distinctly associated with the three phenotypes accounted for 72%. This indicated that the three stressed groups had different protein change profiles as a stress response. The phenotype-specific functional profiles of the OB proteins were evidenced by the use of unsupervised hierarchical clustering of 133 deregulated proteins, as shown in Figure 2B.
Next, these deregulated proteins in the three groups were analyzed through the use of the OmicsBean software to have a better knowledge of phenotype-associated neurobiological functions and pathways. In the Dep-Sus group, enrichment analysis of GO and KEGG pathway was carried out on the 24 deregulated proteins (Supplemental Table S2). The GO-BP, GO-CC and GO-MF categories were recognized to be significantly enriched, which were 350, 64 and 61 terms respectively. Here the top 10 enriched GO terms were displayed (Figure 2C). The GO-BP enrichment showed that most proteins were involved in positive regulation of biological process, transport, endocytosis, response to external stimulus, and adaptive immune response. Many proteins in the GO-CC category belonged to peroxisomal matrix, microbody lumen, plasma membrane and cytosol. GO-MF category analysis indicated that most proteins were involved in receptor, antigen and beta-endorphin binding, transporter and enzyme activity. KEGG-based enrichment indicated that these deregulated proteins were primarily involved in 41 significant pathways such as African trypanosomiasis, malaria, endocytosis and multiple regulating and signaling pathways (Figure 3A).
Meanwhile, the 44 proteins deregulated in the Anx-Sus group were subjected to enrichment analysis of GO and KEGG pathway. The GO-BP, GO-CC and GO-MF categories were recognized to be remarkably overrepresented, which were 638, 164 and 115 terms. The top ten overrepresented GO terms were showed (Figure 2D). The GO-BP classification analysis indicated that many proteins were associated with fibril, extracellular matrix and structure, intermediate filament and protein complex subunit organizations. GO-CC category analysis displayed that most proteins belonged to polymeric cytoskeletal and supramolecular fibers, organelle, cytoplasmic and cytoskeletal parts, and cytosol. GO-MF indicated most of the deregulated proteins were correlated with protein and complex binding, structural molecule and protein heterodimerization and dimerization activities. The KEGG enrichment analysis revealed these deregulated proteins were primarily involved in 70 significant pathways including metabolism, signaling, regulating, apoptosis and synapse pathways (Figure 3B).
Afterwards, GO and KEGG pathway terms of 87 deregulated proteins from the Insus group were also enriched. We identified 771 GO-BP, 187 GO-CC and 110 GO-MF terms to be remarkably overrepresented. The top 10 enriched GO items were displayed in Figure 2E. GO-BP enrichment exhibited that most of the deregulated proteins were involved in organonitrogen compound and cellular protein metabolic processes, organism and cellular processes, and nervous system and cell development. GO-CC analysis showed that many proteins belonged to cytoplasmic, organelle and intracellular parts, and cytosol. GO-MF category analysis showed most proteins were predicted to be involved in protein, poly(A) RNA and glutathione binding, and KEGG-based analysis showed that the deregulated proteins were primarily associated with 43 significant pathways such as choline, inositol phosphate and glycerophospholipid metabolisms, multiple signaling/regulating/synapse pathways (Figure 3C).
On the whole, of these significantly-enriched KEGG pathways, we found that there were 21 shared items between the three groups (Figure 3D). Between the two susceptible groups, the 26 pathways were common. Importantly, the 11, 32 and 6 pathways were found to be specifically correlated with the Dep-Sus, Anx-Sus and Insus groups, respectively, potentially suggesting the three different neurobiological response to stress.
To further examine the comprehensive information from the proteomic data of the three groups, the protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks were mapped and then analyzed. The deregulated proteins connected with the significantly enriched KEGG pathways were merged to construct the networks as shown in Figure 4A-C. On the basis of a unified conceptual framework, a total of 10, 33, and 50 proteins were identified to be significant nodes in the mapped networks from the three stressed groups (Dep-Sus, Anx-Sus and Insus, respectively). These generated PPI networks indicated that there was a direct linkage between the deregulated proteins and significantly overrepresented KEGG pathways, and therefore offered a phenotype-associated interactome pool.
PRM or WB analyses of CMS-responsive proteins
In this work, we further independently investigated 16 deregulated proteins of interest from the significant pathways and networks using the PRM-based or WB-based quantitative methods. It could be seen that the PRM and WB data basically mirrored the results from the iTRAQ experiment (Supplemental Figure S1). There are some objective discrepancies between these quantitative data, as depicted in other proteomic work [31-34]. Besides the detection difference of these methods [33, 34], the additional sample mixing procedure in the iTRAQ experiment was another possible cause. As compared to the Ctrl group, the expressions of Nefl, Mtmr7 and Tk2 were significantly down-regulated in the Dep-Sus group; the expressions of Prkaca, Coa3, Cox6c2, Lamc1 and Tubal3 were significantly up-regulated in the Anx-Sus group; and the expressions of Pabpn1 and Lum were significantly down-regulated while Nme3 and Sos1 were up-regulated in the Insus group (Figure 4D). Additionally, a reduced level of Homer3 in both the Dep-Sus and Anx-Sus groups, an elevated level of Pip4p2 in both the Anx-Sus and Insus groups, and a reduced level of Gh1 in the three groups were observed compared with the Ctrl group. The expression level of Mtor were also observed to be significantly down-regulated whereas up-regulated in both the Anx-Sus and Insus groups when compared to the Ctrl group.