Proteins are essential macromolecules that play diverse roles in the physiology and health of horses. They are composed of amino acids and are involved in various biological processes, including tissue growth, repair, and the synthesis of enzymes and hormones. Dietary proteins are a key component of equine nutrition, influencing muscle development, immune function, and overall performance. Horses require a balanced intake of essential amino acids, which must be obtained through their diet, as they cannot be synthesized endogenously. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the types, functions, and dietary requirements of proteins in horses, as well as their impact on equine health and performance.
Amaral A, Fernandes C, Szóstek-Mioduchowska A, Lukasik K, Rebordão MR, Pinto-Bravo P, Skarzynski DJ, Ferreira-Dias G.Cathepsin G (CAT) is a protease released by neutrophils when forming neutrophil extracellular traps that was already associated with inducing type I collagen (COL1) in equine endometrium in vitro. Endometrosis is a fibrotic condition mainly characterized by COL1 deposition in the equine endometrium. The objective was to evaluate if noscapine (an alkaloid for cough treatment with anti-neoplastic and anti-fibrotic properties) would reduce transcription (evaluated by qPCR) and COL1 protein relative abundance (evaluated by western blot) induced by CAT in equine endometrial explants from follicula...
Gaitskell-Phillips G, Martín-Cano FE, Ortiz-Rodríguez JM, Silva-Rodríguez A, da Silva-Álvarez E, Gil MC, Ortega-Ferrusola C, Peña FJ.Seminal plasma plays an important role in sperm physiology. Seminal plasma proteins vehiculated in microvesicles, carry RNAs and proteins with a potential role in early embryo development. Additionally, proteins present in seminal plasma participate in redox regulation and energy metabolism. In view of these facts, we hypothesized that differences in protein composition of the seminal plasma among stallions may help to explain differences in freeze-ability seen among them. Three independent ejaculates from 10 different stallions of varying breeds were frozen using standard protocols in our lab...
Przewoźny M, Senderska-Płonowska M, Rząsa A, Wierzbicki H, Borkowski J, Swagemakers JH, Żak-Bochenek A, Stefaniak T.Arthroscopy and splint bone removal are the common orthopedic procedures in horses. Estimation of the dynamics of acute phase proteins in postoperative monitoring seems to be interesting diagnostic approach. The aim of the study was to investigate changes in the concentrations of plasma inflammatory markers-fibrinogen, haptoglobin, and protease inhibitors-following orthopedic surgery in horses. The study involved 114 horses, divided into two study groups undergoing: arthroscopy (41 horses) and splint bone removal (13 horses). The control group consisted of 60 healthy horses. The blood was coll...
Vasco ACCM, Brinkley-Bissinger KJ, Bobel JM, Dubeux JCB, Warren LK, Wickens CL.Rhizoma peanut (RP, Arachis glabrata) hay has the potential to meet horses' crude protein (CP) requirements with less nitrogen excretion than other legumes. This study aimed to evaluate nutrient intake, apparent digestibility, and nitrogen balance of RP "Florigraze" hay compared with alfalfa (ALF, Medicago sativa L. "Legendary XHD") and bermudagrass (BG, Cynodon dactylon L. "Coastal") hays when fed to maintenance horses at 2% body weight/d on a dry matter (DM) basis. We hypothesized that nutrient intake would be comparable between the legume hays and lesser for BG and that RP would result in r...
Gaitskell-Phillips G, Martín-Cano FE, Ortiz-Rodríguez JM, da Silva-Álvarez E, Masot J, Redondo E, Gil MC, Ortega-Ferrusola C, Peña FJ.Seminal plasma proteins have important roles in sperm functionality, and different mechanisms including micro-vesicle transport of proteins are involved in the regulation of sperm biology. Due to the role of seminal plasma, we hypothesized that specific proteins present in seminal plasma may be used as discriminant variables with potential to identify stallions producing different quality ejaculates; 10 fertile stallions, with different motility and velocity values (although within normal ranges) were used in this study. Motilities and velocities were studied using computer assisted sperm anal...
Zorigt T, Furuta Y, Simbotwe M, Ochi A, Tsujinouchi M, Shawa M, Shimizu T, Isoda N, Enkhtuya J, Higashi H.Anthrax is a zoonotic disease caused by the gram-positive spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Detecting naturally acquired antibodies against anthrax sublethal exposure in animals is essential for anthrax surveillance and effective control measures. Serological assays based on protective antigen (PA) of B. anthracis are mainly used for anthrax surveillance and vaccine evaluation. Although the assay is reliable, it is challenging to distinguish the naturally acquired antibodies from vaccine-induced immunity in animals because PA is cross-reactive to both antibodies. Although additional ...
Bundgaard L, Åhrman E, Malmström J, Auf dem Keller U, Walters M, Jacobsen S.The objectives of this study was to establish a sensitive and reproducible method to map the cartilage and subchondral bone proteomes in quantitative terms, and mine the proteomes for proteins of particular interest in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis (OA). The horse was used as a model animal. Protein was extracted from articular cartilage and subchondral bone samples from three horses in triplicate by pressure cycling technology or ultrasonication. Digested proteins were analysed by data independent acquisition based mass spectrometry. Data was processed using a pre-established spectral li...
Freitas NFQR, Otaka DY, Galvão CC, de Almeida DM, Ferreira MRA, Moreira Júnior C, Hidalgo MMMH, Conceição FR, Salvarani FM.In horses, Clostridium perfringens is associated with acute and fatal enterocolitis, which is caused by a beta toxin (CPB), and myonecrosis, which is caused by an alpha toxin (CPA). Although the most effective way to prevent these diseases is through vaccination, specific clostridial vaccines for horses against C. perfringens are not widely available. The aim of this study was to pioneer the immunization of horses with three different concentrations (100, 200 and 400 µg) of C. perfringens recombinant alpha (rCPA) and beta (rCPB) proteins, as well as to evaluate the humoral immune response ove...
Fortin JS, Hetak AA, Duggan KE, Burglass CM, Penticoff HB, Schott HC.Equine pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) is a common endocrine disease of aged horses that shows a similar pathophysiology as Parkinson's Disease (PD) with increased levels of α-synuclein (α-syn). While α-syn is thought to play a pathogenic role in horses with PPID, it is unclear if α-syn is also misfolded in the pars intermedia and could similarly promote self-aggregation and propagation. Consequently, α-syn was isolated from the pars intermedia from groups of healthy young and aged horses, and aged PPID-afflicted horses. Seeding experiments confirmed the prion-like properties...
Fernández-Hernández P, Marinaro F, Sánchez-Calabuig MJ, García-Marín LJ, Bragado MJ, González-Fernández L, Macías-García B.Equine fertilization cannot be performed in the laboratory as equine spermatozoa do not cross the oocyte's zona pellucida . Hence, a more profound study of equine oviductal fluid (OF) composition at the pre-ovulatory and post-ovulatory stages could help in understanding what components are required to achieve fertilization in horses. Our work aimed to elucidate the proteomic composition of equine OF at both stages. To do this, OF was obtained postmortem from oviducts of slaughtered mares ipsilateral to a pre-ovulatory follicle ( = 4) or a recent ovulation ( = 4); the samples were kept at -80°...
Blommaert D, Sergeant N, Delehedde M, Donnay I, Lejeune JP, Franck T, Serteyn D.The quality of fresh or thawed sperm in stallions has been generally determined by the viability and total and progressive motility of the sperm. Today, the expression of ProAKAP4, a protein present in the flagellum of spermatozoa, appears to be an innovative and relevant functional marker to assess semen quality and male fertility. This study aims to compare the concentration of ProAKAP4 in the semen from 5 stallions frozen with two different extenders immediately after thawing (T0) and 4 h post-thawing (T4). Viability, total and progressive motility were measured in parallel. Significant di...
Karagianni AE, Eaton SL, Kurian D, Cillán-Garcia E, Twynam-Perkins J, Raper A, Wishart TM, Pirie RS.Airway inflammation is highly prevalent in horses, with the majority of non-infectious cases being defined as equine asthma. Currently, cytological analysis of airway derived samples is the principal method of assessing lower airway inflammation. Samples can be obtained by tracheal wash (TW) or by lavage of the lower respiratory tract (bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid; BALF). Although BALF cytology carries significant diagnostic advantages over TW cytology for the diagnosis of equine asthma, sample acquisition is invasive, making it prohibitive for routine and sequential screening of airway ...
Witkowski M, Pardyak L, Pawlicki P, Galuszka A, Profaska-Szymik M, Plachno BJ, Kantor S, Duliban M, Kotula-Balak M.Cryptorchidism in horses is a commonly occurring malformation. The molecular basis of this pathology is not fully known. In addition, the origins of high intratesticular estrogen levels in horses remain obscure. In order to investigate the role of the G-protein-coupled membrane estrogen receptor (GPER) and establish histological and biochemical cryptorchid testis status, healthy and cryptorchid horse testes were subjected to scanning electron microscopy analysis, histochemical staining for total protein (with naphthol blue black; NBB), acid content (with toluidine blue O; TBO), and polysacchar...
Tesena P, Kingkaw A, Vongsangnak W, Pitikarn S, Phaonakrop N, Roytrakul S, Kovitvadhi A.Equine melanocytic neoplasm (EMN) is a cutaneous neoplasm and is mostly observed in aged grey horses. This preliminary study aimed to identify potential proteins to differentiate normal, mild and severe EMN from serum proteomic profiling. Serum samples were collected from 25 grey horses assigned to three groups: normal (free of EMN; = 10), mild ( = 6) and severe EMN ( = 9). To explore the differences in proteins between groups, proteomic profiling and analysis were employed. Accordingly, 8241 annotated proteins out of 8725 total proteins were compared between normal and EMN groups and inspect...
Rebalka IA, Lindinger MI.A commercially available equine fecal blood test (FBT) claims to be able to detect the presence of blood proteins (albumin and hemoglobin) in manure. The purpose of this study was to determine the FBT test sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values (PPV, NPV), lower threshold of detection, time to obtain a visual positive result, effect of temperature and result stability in lab and field conditions. The FBT was assessed for its sensitivity and specificity for detecting pure albumin and hemoglobin at two temperatures over a range of concentrations. Time to result was mea...
Jonsdottir S, Torsteinsdottir S, Svansson V, Gudbrandsson J, Stefansdottir SB, Mar Bjornsson J, Runarsdottir A, Marti E.Insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) is an allergic dermatitis of horses, an IgE-mediated reaction to Culicoides midges. Causative Culicoides spp. are not indigenous in Iceland resulting in high prevalence of IBH in horses born in Iceland and exported as compared to Icelandic horses born in a Culicoides rich environment. The aims were (i) to compare IgE levels in sera of IBH-affected horses born in Iceland (n = 47) with horses of the Icelandic breed (n = 23) and of other breeds (n = 27) born in Culicoides infested area; (ii) to investigate if barley could be a useful production system of allerge...
Araki M, Ohtaki T, Kimura J, Hobo S, Taya K, Tsunoda N, Taniyama H, Tsumagari S, Nambo Y.Immunohistochemical investigations of the expression of surfactant protein A (SP-A) and surfactant protein D (SP-D) in the uterine and placental tissues of 13 pregnant mares were performed using anti-horse monoclonal primary antibodies. Strong positive reactions for both SP-A and SP-D were observed in the trophoblasts in the microcotyledons of the placentae at 182 to 314 days of gestation; in uterine glandular epithelial cells, faint-to-weak reactions were observed during gestation. This study describes, for the first time, the changes in the SP-A and SP-D expression levels in the endometrium ...
Oliva R, Núñez I, Segunda MN, Peralta OA.Equine adult bone marrow-derived MSCs (BM-MSCs) may be induced into the tenogenic lineage after exposure with bone morphogenetic protein-12 (BMP-12). Despite fetal BM-MSCs have showed a greater differentiation potential compared to adults, the tenogenic differentiation capacity of equine fetal BM-MSC have not been reported. Thus, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the in vitro tenogenic differentiation potential of equine fetal BM-MSCs under the effect of BMP-12. Equine fetal BM-MSCs were exposed to three concentrations of BMP-12 (25, 50 and 100 ng/mL) during a 21-day culture period....
Williams ZJ, Velez-Irizarry D, Gardner K, Valberg SJ.Myofibrillar myopathy in humans causes protein aggregation, degeneration, and weakness of skeletal muscle. In horses, myofibrillar myopathy is a late-onset disease of unknown origin characterized by poor performance, atrophy, myofibrillar disarray, and desmin aggregation in skeletal muscle. This study evaluated molecular and ultrastructural signatures of myofibrillar myopathy in Warmblood horses through gluteal muscle tandem-mass-tag quantitative proteomics (5 affected, 4 control), mRNA-sequencing (8 affected, 8 control), amalgamated gene ontology analyses, and immunofluorescent and electron m...
Rotchanapreeda T, Sae-Chew P, Lohnoo T, Yingyong W, Rujirawat T, Kumsang Y, Payattikul P, Jaturapaktrarak C, Intaramat A, Pathomsakulwong W....Pythiosis, a life-threatening disease caused by , has been increasingly diagnosed worldwide. A recently developed immunochromatographic test (ICT) enables the rapid diagnosis of pythiosis. During the 3-year clinical implementation of ICT in Thailand, we collected the laboratory reports of 38 animals with suspected pythiosis and detected ICT false-positive results in three horses and a dog with basidiobolomycosis. and cause infections with indistinguishable clinical and microscopic features. This study investigated cross-reactive antibodies by probing and crude extracts and cell-free synthe...
Villarraza CJ, Antuña S, Tardivo MB, Rodríguez MC, Mussio P, Cattaneo L, Fontana D, Díaz PU, Ortega HH, Tríbulo A, Macagno A, Bó GA, Ceaglio N....Equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) is a heterodimeric glycoprotein hormone produced by pregnant mares that has been used to improve reproductive performance in different domestic species. Several strategies to produce the hormone in a recombinant way have been reported; nevertheless, no approach has been able to produce a recombinant eCG (reCG) with significant in vivo bioactivity or in sufficient quantities for commercial purposes. For this reason, the only current product available on the market consists of partially purified preparations from serum of pregnant mares (PMSG). Herein, we des...
Miró J, Catalán J, Marín H, Yánez-Ortiz I, Yeste M.While artificial insemination (AI) with frozen-thawed sperm results in low fertility rates in donkeys, the addition of seminal plasma, removed during cryopreservation, partially counteracts that reduction. Related to this, an apparent inflammatory reaction in jennies is induced following AI with frozen-thawed sperm, as a high amount of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) are observed within the donkey uterus six hours after AI. While PMN appear to select the sperm that ultimately reach the oviduct, two mechanisms, phagocytosis and NETosis, have been purported to be involved in that clearance. ...
Boakari YL, Esteller-Vico A, Loux S, El-Sheikh Ali H, Fernandes CB, Dini P, Scoggin KE, Cray C, Ball BA.Serum amyloid A (SAA) and Haptoglobin (Hp) are acute phase proteins, produced during inflammation, such as placentitis. In horses, SAA and SAA1 are protein coding genes. Objectives were to analyze SAA and Hp concentrations and relative abundance of SAA, SAA1 and Hp mRNA transcript in maternal and fetal tissues after experimental induction of placentitis or mares of a control group. Serum Amyloid A family proteins were in marked abundance in the stroma of the endometrium and chorioallantois associated with inflammatory cells. Maternal plasma SAA concentrations were greater (P = 0.01) in mares w...
Onzere CK, Fry LM, Bishop RP, Silva MG, Bastos RG, Knowles DP, Suarez CE.Theileria equi is a widely distributed apicomplexan parasite that causes severe hemolytic anemia in equid species. There is currently no effective vaccine for control of the parasite and understanding the mechanism that T. equi utilizes to invade host cells may be crucial for vaccine development. Unlike most apicomplexan species studied to date, the role of micronemes in T. equi invasion of host cells is unknown. We therefore assessed the role of the T. equi claudin-like apicomplexan microneme protein (CLAMP) in the invasion of equine erythrocytes as a first step towards understanding the role...
Spurgin CL, Coverdale JA, Leatherwood JL, Redmon LA, Bradbery AN, Wickersham TA.This study was conducted to determine the effects of forage crude protein () level on intake and digestion of Coastal bermudagrass hay by horses. Four cecally fistulated geldings were used in a 4 × 4 Latin square design with four treatments and four periods. Horses were fed one of four Coastal bermudagrass hays consisting of 7%, 10%, 13%, or 16% CP during each of the four 15-d periods. Intake and apparent digestibility were determined for each horse at the end of each period by total fecal collection. In addition, cecal fluid and blood samples were collected on the last day of each period for...
Kędzierski W, Kowalik S, Mojsym W, Janczarek I, Tkaczyk E.Development of the musculoskeletal system occurs, in part, through an impact on regulatory proteins, such as activin A and decorin. Activin A induces atrophic effects on skeletal muscle, and decorin regulates the formation of connective tissue proteins like collagen and elastin in tendons and ligaments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of different intensities of exercise on blood plasma activin A and decorin concentrations in horses. Ten young purebred Arabian horses were subjected to routine training sessions on a racetrack, and another 11 adult horses of the same breed pa...
Zhang S, Li Y, Bao Z, Sun N, Lin S.In this study, the effect of pulsed electric field (PEF) on apparent morphology and molecular structure of shell-like ferritin obtained from horse spleen was determined by circular dichroic (CD), fluorescence spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, cold field emission scanning electron microscopy (CF-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and verified by molecule dynamics (MD) simulation. After PEF treatment, the α-helix content of the samples reached a minimum value at 10 kV/cm, which indicated that the ferritin structure has been partially unfolded. However, the α-helix content peaked ...
Capistrano da Silva E, Gibson DJ, Jeong S, Zimmerman KL, Smith-Fleming KM, Martins BDC.Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs)-2 and -9 are present in corneal ulcers, and an imbalance between MMPs and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) leads to further corneal degradation. Amniotic membrane homogenate (AMH) has proteolytic properties beneficial for corneal healing, but it is unknown whether AMH possesses TIMPs or effectively inhibits MMP-2 and MMP-9 activity. Objective: To determine if bovine and equine AMH reduce in vitro MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities associated with the presence of TIMPs. Methods: Undiluted and diluted twofold series (0-fold to 16-fold dilutions) of equine ...
Richards N, Nielsen BD, Finno CJ.Many forage types are available, typically divided into cool or warm season grasses and legumes, which can be fed as fresh pasture or after preservation. Testing for nutrient content confirms what should be supplemented to make up shortfalls. Although testing is recommended, it is not always practical. Typical values for the forage type are available; however, they cannot be relied on for actual content. Non-nutritional aspects must also be taken into account. The provision of complementary feeds to ensure adequate vitamin and mineral intake is recommended. Additional supplementary high-qualit...
Urschel KL, McKenzie EC.Skeletal muscle comprises 40% to 55% of mature body weight in horses, and its mass is determined largely by rates of muscle protein synthesis. In order to support exercise, appropriate energy sources are essential: glucose can support both anaerobic and aerobic exercise, whereas fat can only be metabolized aerobically. Following exercise, ingestion of nonfiber carbohydrates and protein can aid muscle growth and recovery. Muscle glycogen replenishment is slow in horses, regardless of dietary interventions. Several heritable muscle disorders, including type 1 and 2 polysaccharide storage myopath...
Blanchard-Channell M, Moore PF, Stott JL.Two monoclonal antibodies (mAb), UC F6G-3 and UC F13C-5, were characterized as being specific for the apparent equine homologues of CD3 and CD5, respectively. Both antibodies exhibited characteristics of pan-T-lymphocyte markers based upon immunohistology and two-colour flow cytometry. UC F6G-3 precipitated a complex of proteins (up to seven) with molecular weights ranging from 18,000 to 42,000, similar to the human and murine CD3 complex. Upon further dissociation of the precipitated complex, two proteins were identified with molecular weights of 22,000 and 27,000. Immobilized UC F6G-3 was ef...
Kanai Y, van Rijn PA, Maris-Veldhuis M, Kaname Y, Athmaram TN, Roy P.African horse sickness (AHS) is an equine disease with a mortality of up to 90% for susceptible horses. The causative agent AHS virus (AHSV) is transmitted by species of Culicoides. AHSV serogroup within the genus Orbivirus of the Reoviridae family consists of nine serotypes that show no or very limited cross-neutralization. Of the seven structural proteins (VP1-VP7) of AHSV, VP2 is the serotype specific protein, and the major target for neutralizing antibodies. In this report, recombinant VP2 proteins of all nine serotypes were expressed individually by the baculovirus expression system and t...
Jörg A, Pasquier JM, Klebanoff SJ.Eosinophil peroxidase (donor: hydrogen-peroxidase oxidoreductase, EC 1.11.1.7) was isolated in a highly purified form (415/280 nm ratio, 1.05) from horse peripheral blood eosinophil. Eosinophil peroxidase was extracted from intact eosinophils (98-100% purity) or isolated eosinophil granules with 0.05 M acetate buffer (pH 4.7)/0.18 M NaCl and purified by chromatography on Sephadex G-200 and carboxymethylcellulose. Final elution was with 0.05 M acetate buffer (pH 4.7)/ 1 M NaCl. Horse eosinophil peroxidase is a strongly basic protein with bacterial properties when combined with H2O2 and iodide, ...
Kim KH, Oang KY, Kim J, Lee JH, Kim Y, Ihee H.Here we report structural dynamics of equine myoglobin (Mb) in response to the CO photodissociation visualized by picosecond time-resolved X-ray solution scattering. The data clearly reveal new structural dynamics that occur in the timescale of ∼360 picoseconds (ps) and ∼9 nanoseconds (ns), which have not been clearly detected in previous studies.
Kinnunen S, Atalay M, Hyyppä S, Lehmuskero A, Hänninen O, Oksala N.Increased oxidative stress during prolonged endurance exercise may end up with muscle damage, fatigue and decreased physical performance. We have recently shown that acute exercise at moderate intensity induced lipid peroxidation, protein oxidation and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) in trained trotters. The aim of this study was to measure the changes in oxidative stress and antioxidant defense following an 80-km ride in the blood of endurance horses. Blood samples were collected before and immediately after the ride. Unlike to our previous studies performed on trotters, in enduranc...
Ho JX, Holowachuk EW, Norton EJ, Twigg PD, Carter DC.The amino-acid sequence and three-dimensional structure of equine serum albumin have been determined. The amino-acid sequence was deduced from cDNA isolated from equine liver. Comparisons of the primary structure of equine serum albumin with human serum albumin and bovine serum albumin reveal 76.1% and 73.9% sequence identity, respectively. The three-dimensional structure was determined crystallographically by the molecular-replacement method using molecular coordinates from the previously determined structure of human serum albumin, to a resolution of 0.27 nm. In accordance with the primary s...
Côté GP, Smillie LB.Whereas skeletal muscle tropomyosin binds strongly to muscle F-actin in a buffer containing 30 mM KCl and 1-2 mM free Mg2+, equine platelet tropomyosin only binds stoichiometrically (1 tropomyosin molecule per 6 actin monomers) at higher Mg2+ concentrations (7-8 mM free Mg2+). At low free Mg2+ concentrations (1.5 mM) the binding of the platelet protein is only marginally increased by raising the KCl concentration to an optimal value (0.10-0.20 M). This weaker binding can be attributed to the relatively poor head-to-tail polymerization of platelet tropomyosin and its fewer actin-binding sites. ...
Smith JJ, Ross MW, Smith RK.The purpose of this study was to investigate the response of suspensory ligament fibroblasts (SLF) to in vitro stimulation using acellular bone marrow (ABM), platelet rich plasma (in vitro PRP), and serum as potential treatment modalities for suspensory desmitis. Blood, bone marrow, and suspensory ligaments were collected from five horses. SLF were harvested, grown until confluent, and stimulated with various concentrations of ABM, PRP, equine serum, foetal bovine serum, and medium (control). The responses to the treatments were assessed using a combination of radio-labeling for total protein ...
Vance SJ, McDonald RE, Cooper A, Smith BO, Kennedy MW.Latherin is a highly surface-active allergen protein found in the sweat and saliva of horses and other equids. Its surfactant activity is intrinsic to the protein in its native form, and is manifest without associated lipids or glycosylation. Latherin probably functions as a wetting agent in evaporative cooling in horses, but it may also assist in mastication of fibrous food as well as inhibition of microbial biofilms. It is a member of the PLUNC family of proteins abundant in the oral cavity and saliva of mammals, one of which has also been shown to be a surfactant and capable of disrupting m...
Timoney JF, Walker J, Zhou M, Ding J.Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus, a Lancefield group C streptococcus, is a frequently isolated opportunist pathogen from a variety of animal hosts, including the horse. Previous studies have indicated that equine strains carry antigens with characteristics of the antiphagocytic M proteins on the Lancefield groups A and G streptococci. We have cloned a protective M-like protein gene (SzPW60) of an equine strain of S. equi subsp. zooepidemicus W60 and determined its sequence. This gene encodes a protein with a molecular weight of 40,123 which protects mice against subsp. zooepidemicus but...
Provitera P, Bouamr F, Murray D, Carter C, Scarlata S.Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) are closely related lentiviruses that infect immune cells, but their pathogenesis differ. Localization to the cytosolic leaflet of the plasma membrane is critical for replication of both viruses. This localization is accomplished through the matrix (MA) domain of the Gag precursor protein. In HIV-1, association of MA to anionic membranes appears to be primarily driven by a linear cluster of basic residues in the MA domain and an N-myristoylation signal. Interestingly, the MA protein of EIAV does not contain either of ...
Pérez MD, Calvo M.beta-Lactoglobulin is the major whey protein in the milk of ruminants and some nonruminants, such as pigs and horses. Although beta-lactoglobulin was first isolated 60 yr ago, no function has been definitely ascribed to beta-lactoglobulin. Recent x-ray crystallographic studies have advanced knowledge of the structure of beta-lactoglobulin, which is homologous with that of retinol-binding protein and lipocalycins; the function of these proteins seems to be participation in the transport of small hydrophobic substances. By analogy, this protein has been suggested as having a role as a transporte...
Gottschalk M, Metzger J, Martinsson G, Sieme H, Distl O.We performed a genome-wide association study for semen quality traits in 139 German Warmblood stallions. Stallions were genotyped using the Illumina equine SNP50 Beadchip. Traits analysed were de-regressed estimated breeding values (EBVs) for gel-free volume, sperm concentration, total number of sperm, progressive motility and the total number of progressively motile sperm. The GWAS revealed 29 SNPs on 12 different chromosomes as genome-wide significantly associated with semen quality traits. For ten genomic regions we could retrieve candidate genes influencing stallion fertility. Among the ca...
Jolly RD, Palmer DN, Dalefield RR.Analytical studies of three lipopigments show that much can be achieved. Lipopigment from ovine ceroid-lipofuscinosis is composed of discrete protein and lipid molecules in orderly arrays and lipid peroxidation is not involved in its formation. Subunit c of mitochondrial ATP synthase accounts for approximately 50% of accumulated material and is specific to the disease process in this and other forms of the disease. Lipofuscin from bovine heart was mostly soluble and also contained discrete proteins, lipids and metals. Equine thyroid lipofuscin was less soluble but also had a relatively high pr...
Zhang J.Prion diseases (e.g. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), variant CJD (vCJD), Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker syndrome (GSS), Fatal Familial Insomnia (FFI) and Kuru in humans, scrapie in sheep, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or 'mad-cow' disease) and chronic wasting disease (CWD) in cattles) are invariably fatal and highly infectious neurodegenerative diseases affecting humans and animals. However, by now there have not been some effective therapeutic approaches or medications to treat all these prion diseases. Rabbits, dogs, and horses are the only mammalian species reported to be resistant...
Rousseau K, Kirkham S, McKane S, Newton R, Clegg P, Thornton DJ.Horses frequently suffer from respiratory diseases, which, irrespective of etiology, are often associated with airway mucus accumulation. Studies on human airways have shown that the key structural components of the mucus layer are oligomeric mucins, which can undergo changes of expression and properties in disease. However, there is little information on these gel-forming glycoproteins in horse airways mucus. Therefore, the aims of this study were to isolate equine airways oligomeric mucins, characterize their macromolecular properties, and identify their gene products. To this end, pooled tr...
Beeley JG, Eason R, Snow DH.A protein, latherin, with unusual surface activity was isolated from horse sweat by gel filtration and ion-exchange chromatography. The protein has a Stokes radius, determined by gel filtration, of 2.47 nm, and in the ultracentrifuge sediments as a single species with S20,W 2.05 S, indicating an Mr of 24,400. On SDS/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis the molecule behaves as a single peptide chain of apparent Mr 20,000. Latherin contains a high proportion of hydrophobic amino acids (37.2%), and the leucine content (24.5%) is exceptionally high. The unusual composition of the protein may account...
Williams MA, Harrison PM.Horse ferritin was fractionated both by starch-gel electrophoresis and by gel filtration on Sephadex G-200. Monomer fractions contained up to 98% of monomer and oligomer fractions up to 76% of oligomers as determined by quantitative electron microscopy. Percentages obtained from electron micrographs correlated well with analytical starch-gel electrophoretograms and ultracentrifuge patterns. Amino acid analyses of monomer- and oligomer-enriched fractions showed no significant differences. Ferritin oligomers did not apparently dissociate on dilution for electron microscopy or on storage. Apoferr...
Sharma AK, Paramasivam M, Srinivasan A, Yadav MP, Singh TP.Lactoferrin is a monomeric glycoprotein with a molecular mass of approximately 80 kDa. The three-dimensional structure of mare diferric lactoferrin (mlf) has been determined at 2.6 A resolution. The protein crystallizes in the space group P 212121with a=85.2 A, b=99.5 A, c=103.1 A with a solvent content of 55 % (v/v). The structure was solved by the molecular replacement method using human diferric lactoferrin as the model. The structure has been refined using XPLOR to a final R -factor of 0.194 for all data in the 15-2.6 A resolution range. The amino acid sequence of mlf was determined using ...
Pecka E, Dobrzański Z, Zachwieja A, Szulc T, Czyż K.The aim of the study was to determine the changes in composition and physicochemical features (pH, density, thermostability and acidity) of mare colostrum and milk, and of protein fraction contribution (serum albumin, β-casein, γ-casein, α-lactalbumin, G class immunoglobulins) depending on lactation stage. The research material was colostrum and milk samples from 12 Arabian mares. Colostrum samples were collected within 2 h after parturition and milk samples were collected twice, in the 3rd and 6th weeks of lactation. The level of basic milk components decreased significantly (only lactose ...
Kurachi K, Schmer G, Hermodson MA, Teller DC, Davie EW.A comparison of the physical-chemical properties of human, bovine, and horse antithrombin III has been made. These three plasma proteins are strong inhibitors of bovine factor Xa and form a 1:1 molar complex with this coagulation enzyme. Human, bovine, and horse antithrombin III are glycoproteins containing hexose, hexosamine, and neuraminic acid. The total carbohydrate was 9, 12, and 16% for human, bovine, and horse antithrombin III, respectively. These proteins have a similar amino acid composition, although some monor variations were noted. Each antithrombin III is composed of a single poly...
Moore-Colyer MJ, Lumbis K, Longland A, Harris P.Five different hays were used to determine the effect of 5 different soaking and steaming treatments on the water soluble carbohydrate and microbial (bacteria and mould) contents of UK hay. Hays were subjected to the following 5 treatments: 1. Dry; 2. Steamed for 50 minutes in the Haygain- 600 steamer; 3. Soaked in water at 16°C for 9 hours; 4. Steamed then soaked and 5. Soaked then steamed. Post treatment hays were tested for water soluble carbohydrates, bacteria and mould contents. Differences between means were determined using ANOVA and least significant difference with hay (5), bale (3) ...
Mambelli LI, Mattos RC, Winter GH, Madeiro DS, Morais BP, Malschitzky E, Miglino MA, Kerkis A, Kerkis I.Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) due to their self-renewal potential and differentiation capacity are useful for tissue regeneration. Immunomodulatory and trophic properties of MSCs were demonstrated suggesting their use as medicinal signaling cells able to positively change local environment in injured tissue. Equine endometrosis is a progressive degenerative disease responsible for glandular alterations and endometrial fibrosis which causes infertility in mares. More precisely, this disease is characterized by phenotypic changes in the expression pattern of selected endometrial proteins. Curren...
Rivero JL, Serrano AL, Barrey E, Valette JP, Jouglin M.Combined methodologies of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrilamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), immunoblotting, traditional myofibrillar ATPase (mATPase) histochemistry and immunocytochemistry of whole biopsied samples were used to study myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms in the equine gluteus medius muscle. The ELISA technique allowed the quantification of the three MHC isoforms known to be present in different horse muscles: slow (MHC-I) and two fast (termed MHC-IIA and MCH-IIX). The SDS-PAGE method resolved MHCs in three bands: MHC-I, MHC-IIX and M...
Beisel CE, Edwards JF, Dunn LL, Rice NR.Transcription of pathogenic equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) in an acutely infected horse was examined by using the polymerase chain reaction and nucleotide sequencing. Four spliced transcripts were identified in liver tissue, in contrast to the multiplicity of alternatively spliced messages reported for in vitro-propagated human immunodeficiency virus, simian immunodeficiency virus, and, to a lesser extent, EIAV. Nucleotide sequence analysis demonstrated that three of these mRNAs encode known viral proteins: the envelope precursor, the product of the S2 open reading frame, and the regula...
Meredith DM, Stocks JM, Whittaker GR, Halliburton IW, Snowden BW, Killington RA.Equine herpesvirus types 1 and 4 (EHV-1 and EHV-4) labelled with [14C]glucosamine were purified from infected cell culture medium and profiles of their structural proteins were obtained that enabled identification of the major glycoproteins. Nine glycosylated polypeptides were identified for each virus. Preparations of the purified viruses each contained a glycoprotein which was linked by disulphide bonds, as determined by diagonal gel electrophoresis under reducing/non-reducing conditions. High Mr forms of this glycoprotein were detected for EHV-1 when the sample was not heated. The EHV-1 pro...
Nagata K, Tsukita S, Tamura T, Sone N.A Helicobacter pylori membrane fraction oxidized yeast and equine cytochrome c, and N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine (TMPD). When ascorbate was used as reductant, the Vmax and apparent Km values were 612 nmol electron min-1 (mg protein)-1 and 14 microM for yeast, and 419 nmol electron min-1 (mg protein)-1 and 19 microM for equine cytochrome c, respectively. For TMPD oxidation, the Vmax and Km values were 640 nmol electron min-1 (mg protein)-1 and 182 microM, respectively. These oxidase activities showed a high affinity for oxygen. Inhibition of both cytochrome-c and TMPD oxidase activi...
Steger K, Balhorn R.Protamines are nuclear proteins which are specifically expressed in haploid male germ cells. Their replacement of histones and binding to DNA is followed by chromatin hypercondensation that protects DNA from negative influences by environmental factors. Mammalian sperm contain two types of protamines: PRM1 and PRM2. While the proportion of the two protamines is highly variable between different species, abnormal ratios within a species are known to be associated with male subfertility. Therefore, it is more than likely that correct protamine expression represents a kind of chromatin checkpoint...
