Proteomic analysis of tissue from α1,3-galactosyltransferase knockout mice reveals that a wide variety of proteins and protein fragments change expression level.

A barrier in a pig-to-man xenotransplantation is that the Galα1-3Galβ1-4GlcNAc-R carbohydrate (α-Gal epitope) expressed on pig endothelial cells reacts with naturally occurring antibodies in the recipient's blood leading to rejection. Deletion of the α1,3-galactosyltransferase gene prevents the synthesis of the α-Gal epitope. Therefore, knockout models of the α1,3-galactosyltransferase gene are widely used to study xenotransplantation. We have performed proteomic studies on liver and pancreas tissues from wild type and α1,3-galactosyltransferase gene knockout mice. The tissues were analyzed by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The analyses revealed that a wide variety of proteins and protein fragments are differentially expressed suggesting that knockout of the α1,3-galactosyltransferase gene affects the expression of several other genes.