AN EXTENSIVE DESCRIPTION OF THE PEPTIDOMIC REPERTOIRE OF THE HEN EGG YOLK PLASMA

Hen egg is a raw material widely used for preparation of food, pharmaceutical and cosmetoceutical products. Dedicated proteomic studies on egg fractions identified most abundant proteins. No similar studies have been performed at the peptidomic level so far. This study fills this gap and provides a comprehensive picture of the peptides present in the yolk plasma of different hen egg types after 24 and 264 h of laying, using a two-step fractionation followed by combined MALDI-TOF-TOF-MS and nanoLC-ESI-Q-Orbitrap-MS/MS analysis. 628 peptides were characterized as deriving from the proteolytic processing of larger protein components after the physiological action of chicken chymotrypsin-like and pepsin-like enzymes. Structural details on their post-translational modifications were also achieved. Bioinformatic and literature analysis identified 198 peptides associable with putative antihypertensive, antimicrobial, anticancer, antiviral, antibiofilm, anorectic, calcium-binding and anti-inflammatory activities.