title: Quantitative proteomic analysis of whey proteins in the colostrum and mature milk of yak (Bos grunniens).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Yak (Bos grunniens) is an important natural resource in mountainous regions. To date, few studies have addressed the differences in the protein profiles of yak colostrum and milk. We used quantitative proteomics to compare the protein profiles of whey from yak colostrum and milk. Milk samples were collected from 21 yaks after calving (1 and 28 d). Whey protein profiles were generated through isobaric tag for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ)-labelled proteomics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified 183 proteins in milk whey; of these, the expression levels of 86 proteins differed significantly between the whey from colostrum and milk. Haemoglobin expression showed the greatest change; its levels were significantly higher in the whey from colostrum than in mature milk whey. Functional analysis revealed that many of the differentially expressed proteins were associated with biological regulation and response to stimuli. Further, eight differentially expressed proteins involved in the complement and coagulation cascade pathway were enriched in milk whey.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings add to the general understanding of the protein composition of yak milk, suggest potential functions of the differentially expressed proteins, and provide novel information on the role of colostral components in calf survival.
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya'an, 625014, China; Institute of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei, 230031, China.
authors.forename: Yongxin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xiaowei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Shumin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Suizhong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D003126:Colostrum / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008892:Milk / Q000737:chemistry*; D008894:Milk Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D011247:Pregnancy; D040901:Proteomics; D000067816:Whey Proteins
chemical_list: D008894:Milk Proteins; D000067816:Whey Proteins
keywords: colostrum; milk whey; proteomics; yak