Work

Integrated peptidogenomics decoding yak non-conventional peptides: functional mapping and biopotential mining of genetic resources

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: Non-conventional peptides play a key role fundamental biological processes in basic plants and animals. This study investigates adaptive molecular genetic mechanisms of yaks from the perspective of non-coding peptides (NCPs). METHODS: We established an integrated peptidogenomic pipeline, featuring a customized six-frame translation database using high-throughput mass spectrometry, which was utilized for the large-scale identification of NCPs in several vital organs/tissues of yaks. RESULTS: In contrast to conventional peptides, these NCPs exhibit unique properties derived from introns, untranslated regions (UTRs), out-of-frame exons, and intergenic regions. Additionally, our findings indicate that translation events are more prevalent in unannotated transcripts than previously understood. Through transcriptome analysis and ribosome mapping analysis, 727 NCPs were identified as derived from long non-coding RNA and 944 NCPs were from circular RNA. Interestingly, the number of hydrophobic amino acids in NCPs was found to exceed that of hydrophilic amino acids in almost all tissues; in contrast to the findings for CPs, where the reverse was observed. The findings suggest a potential role in the maintenance of protein stability and minimizing the effects of oxidative stress. Furthermore, the in vitro antioxidant activity of the 38 candidate peptides further confirmed their physiological functions; however, specific physiological mechanisms require further investigation. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, this study demonstrates that a substantial portion of the yak genome can be translated into biologically functional molecules, which is crucial for functional genome research. These unique molecules will serve as basic data for future biomedical development and treatment of plateau diseases.

Source: Animal Bioscience

DOI: 10.5713/ab.25.0408