Phosphoproteome profiling reveals the role of mitochondrial proteins phosphorylation in beef color development

This study investigated the effects of mitochondrial protein phosphorylation on beef color stability through a quantitative mitochondrial phosphoproteome analysis. The mitochondria from beef samples of high, medium and low color stability were extracted and the phosphorylation status of their protein profiles were investigated. In total, 376 identified phosphopeptides were assigned to 191 phosphoproteins in mitochondria. The phosphorylation status of 47 mitochondrial proteins were significantly differed between the compared groups and 70% of phosphosites were significantly upregulated. The mitochondrial phosphoproteins were involved in the pathway of oxidative phosphorylation, signaling transduction, transport, muscle contraction, etc. The phosphorylation of NADH dehydrogenase, cytochrome c oxidase in the mitochondrial inner membrane and the phosphorylation of voltage-dependent anion-selective channel protein in the mitochondrial outer membrane were positively correlated with meat color. Collectively, this study explored the important role of mitochondrial phosphoproteins in meat color development and broadens our knowledge on mitochondria-mediated meat color regulation.