Towards a global analysis of porcine alveolar macrophages proteins through two-dimensional electrophoresis and mass spectrometry

Alveolar macrophages (AM) are the primary phagocytes of the innate immune systems, constituting a link between innate and adaptive immunity. With the aim of studying the porcine AM biology and the dynamics of pig-pathogen cell interactions, we have obtained a reference 2-DE map of the porcine AM proteins. The proteins were separated by 2-DE using a 5–8 range pH gradient in isoelectric focusing and over 800 spots were detected. A set of proteins, covering the pI 5.2–7.4 and MW 19 to 106 kDa ranges, was subjected to MS analysis and 106 proteins were assigned identification by PMF, this identification being confirmed by MS/MS. An important number of proteins is involved in immunological functions, signalling process, transport or apoptosis, confirming that macrophages are involved in a wide range of biological functions. This reference map provides a useful tool for identifying protein pattern changes as a result of inflammation, exposure to infectious agents or genetic diseases.