Sewage Protein Information Mining: Discovery of Large Biomolecules as Biomarkers of Population and Industrial Activities

Abstract

Wastewater-based epidemiology has been revealed as a powerful approach for surveying the health and lifestyle of a population. In this context, proteins have been proposed as potential biomarkers that complement the information provided by currently available methods. However, little is known about the range of molecular species and dynamics of proteins in wastewater and the information hidden in these protein profiles is still to be uncovered. In this study, we investigated the protein composition of wastewater from 10 municipalities in Catalonia with diverse populations and industrial activities at three different times of the year. The soluble fraction of this material was analyzed using liquid chromatography high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry using a shotgun proteomics approach. The complete proteomic profile, distribution among different organisms, and semiquantitative analysis of the main constituents are described. Excreta (urine and feces) from humans, and blood and other residues from livestock were identified as the two main protein sources. Our findings provide new insights into the characterization of wastewater proteomics that allow for the proposal of specific bioindicators for wastewater-based environmental monitoring. This includes human and animal population monitoring, most notably for rodent pest control (immunoglobulins (Igs) and amylases) and livestock processing industry monitoring (albumins).