ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Animal Nutrition and Metabolism
Data-Independent Acquisition (DIA) Quantitative Proteomics Analysis of Milk Fat Globule Membrane Proteins in Rabbit Colostrum and Mature Milk
Provisionally accepted
Liangde Kuang1Min Lei1Xueer Mu2Yunduan Wang2Yueyue Li2Hongmei Xu2Tiantian Li3Lin Huang2Yucai Zheng2Xiaohong Xie1Congyan Li1*
Wei Fu2*- 1Sichuan Animal Sciences Academy, Chengdu, China
- 2Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, China
- 3Academy of National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration, Beijing, China
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Proteomics has been widely used to identify milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) proteins. However, the characteristics of MFGM proteins in rabbit colostrum (RC) and mature milk (RM) remain largely unexplored. This study aimed to profile the rabbit MFGM proteins and assess the component and function differences between RC and RM through Data-Independent Acquisition (DIA) quantitative proteomics. We established the proteomic profile of rabbit MFGM, identifying 3548 proteins across RC and RM. Notably, the typical MFGM proteins, such as Perilipin 2 (PLIN2), Xanthine dehydrogenase/oxidase (XDH/XO), and Apolipoprotein were detected in rabbit milk, ten of which were confirmed by Parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) detection. Comparative analysis revealed 480 differentially expressed MFGM proteins (DEMPs), with 379 up-regulated and 101 down-regulated DEMPs in RC compared to RM. This included 68 unique proteins in RC, 5 in RM, and 407 DEMPs expressed in both groups. The GO analysis indicated that DEMPs are predominantly involved in processes such as proteolysis, cell adhesion, and ion transport, enriching 32, 14, and 14 DEMPs, respectively. KEGG analysis gathered 56 significant pathways, most of which were categorized into Human Diseases (20/56) and Metabolism (14/56). Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis emphasized the core role of DEMPs (e.g. Proteasome subunits and Integrin) on Human diseases (e.g. Alzheimer's disease) and Signal transduction (e.g. PI3K-Akt signaling pathway). These results provided the theoretical insights into components and function of rabbit milk, suggesting a novel way to promote the economic benefit of rabbit industry.
Keywords: Colostrum, DIA, Milk fat globule membrane, Proteomics, rabbit
Received: 11 Sep 2025; Accepted: 09 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Kuang, Lei, Mu, Wang, Li, Xu, Li, Huang, Zheng, Xie, Li and Fu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Congyan Li
Wei Fu
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