The mouse multi-organ proteome from infancy to adulthood

Area of Science:

• Developmental Biology
• Proteomics
• Systems Biology

Background:

• Early-life organ development is critical for lifelong health and phenotype.
• A comprehensive proteomic map of organ development across early life stages is lacking.
• Understanding these early molecular changes is essential for identifying developmental origins of health and disease.

Purpose of the Study:

• To create a comprehensive proteome atlas of ten major mouse organs during early development (infancy to adulthood).
• To identify age-related protein expression patterns and key regulatory proteins involved in organ maturation.
• To investigate organ-specific proteomic profiles and sexual dimorphism during development.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry for high-throughput proteomic analysis.
• Analyzed ten distinct mouse organs (brain, heart, lung, liver, kidney, spleen, stomach, intestine, muscle, skin).
• Collected samples at three critical developmental time points: 1, 4, and 8 weeks post-birth.

Main Results:

• Quantified over 11,533 protein groups across all analyzed organs and developmental stages.
• Identified 115 differentially expressed protein groups consistently co-expressed across all organs from infancy to adulthood.
• Revealed the significant regulatory role of spliceosome proteins in early multi-organ development.
• Observed distinct organ-specific expression patterns and significant sexual dimorphism in protein profiles.

Conclusions:

• The generated multi-organ proteome atlas serves as a foundational resource for studying early-life organ development.
• Findings highlight spliceosome proteins as critical regulators of fundamental developmental processes across multiple organs.
• This atlas provides a basis for understanding the molecular underpinnings of developmental trajectories and their impact on later-life phenotypes.