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World J Gastroenterol. Jan 7, 2027; 33(1): 123358
Published online Jan 7, 2027. doi: 10.3748/wjg.123358
Published online Jan 7, 2027. doi: 10.3748/wjg.123358
Identification of region-specific signaling modules governing Crohn’s pathogenesis via mass spectrometry-based integrative acetyl-proteomics
Ya-Jing Guo, Jing Wen, Jing-Xia Liu, Yi-Ning Gao, Xin-Wang Chen, School of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tuina, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou 450046, Henan Province, China
Ya-Jing Guo, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou 450014, Henan Province, China
Xin-Wang Chen, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou 450008, Henan Province, China
Author contributions: Guo YJ and Chen XW jointly conceived and designed the study; Guo YJ drafted the manuscript; Wen J established the animal models and performed the related biological experiments; Liu JX conducted data analysis and prepared the figures; Gao YN verified the analytical results; Gao YN and Liu JX have seen and can confirm the authenticity of the raw data; all authors reviewed, edited, and approved the final manuscript.
AI contribution statement: Portions of this manuscript were edited using AI tools solely for checking grammar and typographical errors. The authors carefully reviewed and verified all AI-assisted outputs and take full responsibility for the scientific content of the manuscript.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82405585; Henan Province Science and Technology Research Project, No. 252102311264; Henan Higher Education Key Research Project, No. 23A360019; and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, No. 2025M773941.
Institutional review board statement: This study does not involve any human experiments.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: The animal experiment protocol of this study has been reviewed and approved by Laboratory Animal Welfare and Ethics Committee of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (now Henan University of Chinese Medicine) (approval No. IACUC-202310037).
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Data sharing statement: The raw data support the findings of this study are openly available in PRIDE with identifier number PXD064647 (https://ftp.pride.ebi.ac.uk/pride/data/archive/2026/04/PXD064647). The raw 16S rRNA sequencing reads generated in this study have been deposited in the NCBI Sequence Read Archive (SRA) under BioProject accession number PRJNA1312229 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sra/?term = PRJNA1312229).
Corresponding author: Xin-Wang Chen, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tuina, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, No. 156 Jinshui East Road, Zhengdong New District, Zhengzhou 450046, Henan Province, China. 787746907@qq.com
Received: May 25, 2026
Revised: July 24, 2026
Accepted: September 8, 2026
Published online: January 7, 2027
Processing time: 177 Days and 12.6 Hours
Revised: July 24, 2026
Accepted: September 8, 2026
Published online: January 7, 2027
Processing time: 177 Days and 12.6 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This study presents a segment-resolved acetyl-proteomic landscape in a rat model of Crohn’s disease, revealing distinct acetylation signatures across the proximal, mid, and distal colon. Fifteen hub proteins, including receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 2, signal transducer and activator of transcription 1, nuclear factor kappa B subunit 2, Ywhaz and SMRD2 were identified from the acetyl-protein interaction network. Site-specific validation by parallel reaction monitoring confirmed the reliability of the discovery proteomics. These region-specific acetylation patterns and hub proteins provide a foundation for biomarker discovery and targeted therapeutic strategies in Crohn’s disease.