title: Phosphorylation of myofibrillar proteins in post-mortem ovine muscle with different tenderness.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Tenderness is one of the most important quality attributes especially for beef and lamb. As protein phosphorylation and dephosphorylation regulate glycolysis, muscle contraction and turnover of proteins within living cells, it may contribute to the conversion of muscle to meat. The changes of myofibrillar protein phosphorylation in post-mortem ovine muscle with different levels of tenderness were investigated in this study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The protein phosphorylation level (P/T ratio) of the tender group increased from 0.5 to 12 h post mortem and then decreased. The P/T ratio of tough group increased during 24 h post mortem, increasing faster from 0.5 to 4 h post mortem than from 4 to 24 h post mortem.The global phosphorylation level of tough meat was significantly higher than tender meat at 4, 12 and 24 h post mortem (P < 0.05). Protein identification revealed that most of the phosphoproteins were proteins with sarcomeric function; the others were involved in glycometabolism, stress response, etc. The phosphorylation levels of myofibrillar proteins, e.g. myosin light chain 2 and actin, were significantly different among groups of different tenderness and at different post-mortem time points (P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Protein phosphorylation may influence meat rigor mortis through contractile machinery and glycolysis, which in turn affect meat tenderness.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agro-Products Processing Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Agro-Products Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100193, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Lijuan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agro-Products Processing Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Agro-Products Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100193, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agro-Products Processing Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Agro-Products Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100193, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agro-Products Processing Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Agro-Products Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100193, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agro-Products Processing Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Agro-Products Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100193, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agro-Products Processing Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Agro-Products Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100193, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhenyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agro-Products Processing Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Agro-Products Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100193, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qingwu W
authors.initials: QW
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agro-Products Processing Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Agro-Products Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100193, People's Republic of China.|Synergetic Innovation Center of Food Safety and Nutrition, Beijing 100193, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Dequan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis*; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000737:chemistry; D009210:Myofibrils / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D018994:Myosin Light Chains / Q000378:metabolism; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D012756:Sheep
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D009124:Muscle Proteins; D018994:Myosin Light Chains
keywords: myofibrillar proteins; ovine muscle; protein phosphorylation; tenderness