Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To screen the differential expression of proteins in the cerebrum of hens exposed to tri-ortho-cresyl phosphate(TOCP) so as to provide evidence for mass spectroscopy. METHODS:Twelve Roman hens were randomly divided to 2 groups, with six in each group. The hens in experiment group were treated with a single oral dosage of 1000 mg/kg TOCP, the hens in control group received the same volume of sodium chloride. On the 24th day after TOCP administration, hens were sacrificed. Their cerebrum were dissected and homogenized in ice bath. Total proteins of the cerebral tissues were separated by isoelectric focusing as the first dimension and SDS-PAGE as the second dimension. The two-dimensional electrophoresis(2-DE) maps were visualized after silver staining and analyzed by ImageMaster2D software. RESULTS: Among the total proteins from the control group and the experiment group, 1 332 and 1 008 protein spots, respectively, were detected. Comparison analysis showed that 77.78％ of the total protein spots were matched between the two groups. Compared with control group, 262 differentially expressed protein spots were detected in experiment group and 43 protein spots showed 4 fold change. CONCLUSION: Proteomic analysis could identify the differentially expressed proteins in the two groups. And some of these protein spots may contribute to the occurrence and development of TOCP-induced delayed neurotoxicity.

Key words: tri-ortho-cresyl phosphate, delayed neurotoxicity, roman hens, two-dimensional electrophoresis, cerebrum, differential analysis