Proteomic characteristics of the liver and skeletal muscle in the Chinese tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri chinensis).

Valid animal models are useful for studying the pathophysiology of specific disorders, such as neural disease, diabetes and cancer. Previous molecular phylogeny studies indicate that the tree shrew is in the same order as (or a close sister to) primates, and thus may be an ideal model in which to study human disease. In this study, the proteome of liver and muscle tissue in tree the shrew was identified by combining peptide fractionation and LC-MS/MS identification. In total, 2146 proteins were detected, including 1759 proteins in liver samples and 885 proteins in skeletal muscle samples from the tree shrew. Further sub-source analysis revealed that nearly half of the identified proteins (846 proteins and 418 proteins) were derived from human database. In this study, we are the first to describe the characteristics of the proteome from the liver and skeletal muscle of the tree shrew. Phylogenetic tree analysis based on these proteomic data showed that the tree shrew is closer to primates (human) than to glires (the mouse and rat).