Dear MARMAM community,

My co-authors and I are pleased to share our recent publication, “Proteomic 
Characterization of Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Urine,” in the 
Journal of Proteome Research, now available open access at 
Https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.jproteome.5c00718<https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.jproteome.5c00718>

Abstract: Urinary proteins offer multifaceted insights into tissue repair, 
dysfunction, and renal health, with significant implications for both human and 
veterinary medicine. However, marine mammal medicine lacks comprehensive 
studies on urine protein composition. This study aimed to describe the urine 
proteome of wild common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) at two Gulf of 
Mexico sites (Sarasota Bay, FL, and Barataria Bay, LA) and to compare urine 
proteins by sex. Ten urine samples (Barataria Bay, LA: N = 6; Sarasota Bay, FL: 
N = 4) were analyzed by nano LC-MS/MS. Peptide spectral matching identified 
1872 protein families across all individuals (FDR < 0.01). Cystatin 11 was 
notably present in males (median rank abundance: 8.1%) and absent in females 
(median: 0.0%), with semen contamination elevating protein diversity in male 
urine. Two putative antimicrobial proteins, cathelicidin and lysozyme, 
accounted for 2.66% of the urine proteome, suggesting an innate immune defense 
mechanism. In total, 27 proteins that are recognized as acute kidney injury 
markers in humans, and 12 putative stone formation proteins were detected in 
dolphin urine. This research provides a reference database of urinary proteins 
that can be used to develop advanced methods for investigating dolphin renal 
health. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD054283.

Cusick, K. N., Bland, A., Stacy, N. I., McFee, W. E., Takeshita, R., Wells, R. 
S., Smith, C.R., Schwacke, L. & Janech, M. G. (2025). Proteomic 
Characterization of Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Urine. Journal of 
Proteome Research.

Thanks,
Kelly Cusick, M.S.
College of Charleston


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