New In-Depth Analytical Approach of the Porcine Seminal Plasma Proteome Reveals Potential Fertility Biomarkers

A complete characterization of the
proteome of seminal plasma (SP)
is an essential step to understand how SP influences sperm function
and fertility after artificial insemination (AI). The purpose of this
study was to identify which among characterized proteins in boar SP
were differently expressed among AI boars with significantly different
fertility outcomes. A total of 872 SP proteins, 390 of them belonging
specifically to Sus Scrofa taxonomy, were identified
(Experiment 1) by using a novel proteomic approach that combined size
exclusion chromatography and solid-phase extraction as prefractionation
steps prior to Nano LC–ESI–MS/MS analysis. The SP proteomes
of 26 boars showing significant differences in farrowing rate (n = 13) and litter size (n = 13) after
the AI of 10 526 sows were further analyzed (Experiment 2).
A total of 679 SP proteins were then quantified by the SWATH approach,
where the penalized linear regression LASSO revealed differentially
expressed SP proteins for farrowing rate (FURIN, AKR1B1, UBA1, PIN1,
SPAM1, BLMH, SMPDL3A, KRT17, KRT10, TTC23, and AGT) and litter size
(PN-1, THBS1, DSC1, and CAT). This study extended our knowledge of
the SP proteome and revealed some SP proteins as potential biomarkers
of fertility in AI boars.