Skin proteomic screening and functional analysis of differential proteins associated with coat color in sheep (Ovis aries).

Objective: Coat color is an important characteristic and economic trait in domestic sheep. In this study, we explored the potential mechanisms and the signaling pathways involved in coat color regulation for sheep.

Methods: Isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) technology was used to catalog global protein expression profiles in skin of sheep with black versus white coat color.

Expression and tissue distribution analysis of vimentin and transthyretin proteins associated with coat colors in sheep (Ovis aries).

Objective: Pigment production and distribution are controlled through multiple proteins, resulting in different coat color phenotypes of sheep.

Methods: The expression distribution of vimentin (VIM) and transthyretin (TTR) in white and black sheep skins was detected by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem MS (LC-ESI-MS/MS), gene ontology (GO) statistics, immunohistochemistry, Western blot, and quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) to evaluate their role in the coat color formation of sheep.

Results: LC-ESI-MS/MS results showed VIM and TTR proteins in white and black skin tissues of sheep.