Differences between fertilized and unfertilized chicken egg white proteins revealed by 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis-based proteomic analysis.

The egg white protein alterations during the early phase of chicken embryonic development were recently reported by our laboratory. Nevertheless, the original albumen differences between fresh unfertilized and fertilized chicken eggs have not been investigated. By using 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), coupled with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS/MS) method, 1 ovalbumin protein spot as well as 6 ovalbumin-related protein Y spots were identified showing more than 10-fold differences (P < 0.01) in abundance between fresh unfertilized and fertilized chicken egg whites. Six of these protein spots represented higher intensity in fertilized eggs through 2-DE analysis. It was thus concluded that ovalbumin protein family, especially ovalbumin-related protein Y, may play an important role in embryonic development, which still needs to be validated. This finding will provide insight into embryogenesis to improve our understanding of the functions of ovalbumin family proteins in regulating or supporting embryonic development.