Sexual Differences in Mitochondrial Proteins in Rat Cerebral Microvessels: A Proteomic Approach

Sex differences in mitochondrial numbers and function are present in large cerebral arteries, but it is unclear whether these differences extend to the microcirculation. We performed an assessment of mitochondria-related proteins in cerebral microvessels (MVs) isolated from young, male and female, Sprague-Dawley rats. MVs were isolated from the cerebrum and used to perform proteomics experiment utilizing tandem mass tags, coupled with liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (MS). MS data and bioinformatic analyses were performed using Proteome Discoverer and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. We identified a total of 1,969 proteins, of which 1,871 were quantified. Sixty-four proteins were expressed significantly (p