Species-Related Differences in the Proteome of Rat and Human Pancreatic Beta Cells

The core proteomes of human and rat pancreatic beta cells were compared by label-free LC-MS/MS: this resulted in quantification of relative molar abundances of 707 proteins belonging to functional pathways of intermediary metabolism, protein synthesis, and cytoskeleton. Relative molar abundances were conserved both within and between pathways enabling the selection of a housekeeping network for geometric normalization and the analysis of potentially relevant differential expressions. Human beta cells differed from rat beta cells in their lower level of enzymes involved in glucose sensing (MDH1, PC, and ACLY) and upregulation of lysosomal enzymes. Human cells also expressed more heat shock proteins and radical scavenging systems: apart from SOD2, they expressed high levels of H2O2-scavenger peroxiredoxin 3 (PRDX3), confirmed by microarray, Western blotting, and microscopy. Besides conferring lower susceptibility to oxidative stress to human cells PRDX3 might also play a role in physiological redox regulation as, in rat, its expression was restricted to a beta cell subset with higher metabolic glucose responsiveness. In conclusion, although their core proteomic architecture is conserved, human and rat beta cells differ in their molar expression of key enzymes involved in glucose sensing and redox control.