Hippocampus tissues were ground into powder in liquid nitrogen using lysis buffer (Roche). Then, the samples were ultrasonically disrupted on ice. Supernatants were collected after centrifugation (10,000g, 30 min, 4°C), and protein concentrations were determined using an enhanced BCA (bicinchoninic acid) Protein Assay Kit (P0010; Beyotime Biotechnology Ltd., Beijing, China), according to the manufacturer's instructions. The protein samples (200 μg) were mixed with dl-dithiothreitol, alkylated with iodoacetamide, and then treated with trypsin (protein-trypsin ratio = 50 : 1, 12 h).
Protein peptides (100 μg) from each group were labeled using an iTRAQ Reagent-8plex Multiplex Kit (AB SCIEX, Framingham, MA, USA). The samples were labeled as 113 (control 1), 114 (control 2), 115 (CUMS 1), 116 (CUMS 2), and 117 (CUMS 3). The labeled samples were pooled and further fractionated offline using the ÄKTApurifier 100 (GE Healthcare Life Sciences) with a strong cation exchange column (PolySULFOETHYL A™; PolyLC Inc., Columbia, MD, USA). The retained peptides were eluted with buffer A (10 mM KH2PO4 in 25% ACN (acetonitrile), pH 3.0) and buffer B (10 mM KH2PO4 and 500 mM KCl in 25% ACN, pH 3.0) with a flow rate of 0.7 ml/min.
Protein peptides (100 μg) from each group were labeled using an iTRAQ Reagent-8plex Multiplex Kit (AB SCIEX, Framingham, MA, USA). The samples were labeled as 113 (control 1), 114 (control 2), 115 (CUMS 1), 116 (CUMS 2), and 117 (CUMS 3). The labeled samples were pooled and further fractionated offline using the ÄKTApurifier 100 (GE Healthcare Life Sciences) with a strong cation exchange column (PolySULFOETHYL A™; PolyLC Inc., Columbia, MD, USA). The retained peptides were eluted with buffer A (10 mM KH2PO4 in 25% ACN (acetonitrile), pH 3.0) and buffer B (10 mM KH2PO4 and 500 mM KCl in 25% ACN, pH 3.0) with a flow rate of 0.7 ml/min.