Quantitative proteomics provides new insights into chicken eggshell matrix protein functions during the primary events of mineralisation and the active calcification phase.

Eggshell is a bioceramic composed of 95% calcium carbonate mineral and 3.5% organic matrix. Its structural organisation is controlled by its organic matrix. We have used quantitative proteomics to study four key stages of shell mineralisation: 1) widespread deposition of amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC), 2) ACC transformation into crystalline calcite aggregates, 3) formation of larger calcite crystal units and 4) development of a columnar structure with preferential calcite crystal orientation. This approach explored the distribution of 216 shell matrix proteins found at the four stages. Variations in abundance according to these calcification events were observed for 175 proteins. A putative function related to the mineralisation process was predicted by bioinformatics for 77 of them and was further characterised. We confirmed the important role of lysozyme, ovotransferrin, ovocleidin-17 and ovocleidin-116 for shell calcification process, characterised major calcium binding proteins (EDIL3, ALB, MFGE8, NUCB2), and described novel proteoglycans core proteins (GPC4, HAPLN3). We suggest that OVAL and OC-17 play a role in the stabilisation of ACC. Finally, we report proteins involved in the regulation of proteins driving the mineralisation. They correspond to numerous molecular chaperones including CLU, PPIB and OCX21, protease and protease inhibitors including OVM and CST3, and regulators of phosphorylation.