A Preliminary Analysis of Secreted Proteins from Bifidobacterium pseudocatanulatum BP1 by Two-Dimensional Gel Electrophoresis

Proteins secreted from bifidobacteria are believed to play important roles in human intestines via interacting with different host cells. In this respect, proteins secreted from Bifidobacterium pseudocatanulatum BP1, which has been rarely studied, were analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE). Using this approach, approx-imately 21 protein spots on a 2DE gel were detected and 10 of these spots were identified by mass spectrometry. Five spots were identified as hypothetical proteins and the remaining 5 spots were identified as a putative iron-side-rophore binding lipoprotein, a short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase SDR, an exonuclease, cytochrome P450 hydroxylase, and a putative dehydrogenase. The identification of secreted putative iron-siderophore binding lipoprotein was highly interesting since it is an important protein that is involved in ferric iron uptake in pathogenic bacteria. This finding could accelerate studies on the probiotic effect of Bifidobacterium by explaining the competition between bifidobacteria and intestinal pathogens for ferric iron.