Label-free quantitative proteomic analysis of milk fat globule membrane proteins of yak and cow and identification of proteins associated with glucose and lipid metabolism

The aim of the present study was to compare the different bioactivities of milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) proteins between yak and cow, and identified the differential MFGM proteins. In this study, 156 differential MFGM proteins between yak and cow were identified with various health-related bioactivities including anti-adhesion of bacteria and viruses, glucose and lipid metabolism, immunoregulation, antioxidant activity, anti-cancer and neural regulation by GOBP and KEGG pathway analysis. The efficacy of differential MFGM proteins from cow and yak milk on glucose and lipid metabolism was verified by in vitro HepG2 cells. MFGM proteins of yak exhibited significantly higher lipid accumulation-lowering efficacy, and MFGM proteins of cow had significantly higher efficacy of increasing glucose uptake. The differential types and amount MFGM proteins of yak and cow milk that might relate to the different effect on glucose and lipid metabolism were also identified. These findings demonstrate that MFGM proteins contain potential bioactive ingredients for improving metabolic health.