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Integrated Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analysis of the Pathogenic Mechanisms of Staphylococcus aureus-Induced Gangrenous Mastitis in Dairy Goats
by
Mingzhe Fu
1,2,†, 
Xuewen Tan
1,3,†,
Yingqiu Liu
1,2,
Weimin Zhang
1,2,
Shen Zhuang
1,2,
Xiaopeng An
3,* and
Yunpeng Fan
1,2,* 1
College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
2
Institute of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
3
College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Animals 2026, 16(18), 2878; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani16182878 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 27 July 2026
/
Revised: 6 September 2026
/
Accepted: 10 September 2026
/
Published: 12 September 2026
(This article belongs to the Section Small Ruminants)
Simple Summary
Gangrenous mastitis is a severe udder disease in dairy goats that can cause extensive mammary tissue damage, loss of milk production, and death. However, the biological changes that cause clinical mastitis to progress to this destructive form remain unclear. This study compared mammary tissues from healthy goats and goats with clinical or gangrenous mastitis caused by Staphylococcus aureus. Transcriptomic analysis was used to determine which genes were activated or suppressed, whereas proteomic analysis measured changes in proteins that perform immune, metabolic, clotting, and tissue-repair functions. Combining these approaches provides a more complete picture of disease development than examining either level alone. Clinical mastitis was mainly associated with acute inflammation and antibacterial defense, whereas gangrenous mastitis showed more extensive disturbances involving inflammation, immune-cell activity, blood clotting, circulation, and tissue structure. These findings clarify the processes associated with disease worsening and identify molecular changes with potential practical value. They may support the development of earlier diagnostic methods, improve disease-severity assessment, and inform preventive or supportive treatment strategies, thereby helping veterinarians and farmers reduce animal suffering and production losses.
Abstract
Gangrenous mastitis is a severe form of mastitis in dairy goats that causes extensive tissue damage and has a poor prognosis, thereby substantially affecting the dairy goat industry; however, its molecular pathogenesis remains unclear. In this study, Staphylococcus aureus was used to establish a model of gangrenous mastitis in dairy goats. Mammary gland tissues were collected at 72 h post-inoculation for transcriptomic and proteomic sequencing, followed by integrated multi-omics analyses to systematically identify key regulatory pathways and candidate molecules associated with S. aureus-induced gangrenous mastitis. The results showed that clinical mastitis was characterized mainly by activation of pathways related to the acute inflammatory response, pathogen recognition, neutrophil chemotaxis, and phagocytic defense. In contrast, gangrenous mastitis involved broader molecular reprogramming, with significant enrichment of the TNF, IL-17, and NF-κB signaling pathways, complement and coagulation cascades, platelet activation, and extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling. Protein–protein interaction (PPI) analysis, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), and validation of key molecules indicated that IL6, S100A8, THBS1, SERPINE1, and MMP9 may represent important nodes in disease progression. Collectively, these findings indicate that gangrenous mastitis is a complex infectious tissue-injury process driven by inflammatory amplification, aberrant immune-cell activation, complement–coagulation dysregulation, and tissue structural disruption. The identified molecules and pathways may facilitate the development of biomarker panels for early diagnosis and risk stratification and inform preventive and adjunctive therapeutic strategies targeting excessive inflammation, microcirculatory dysfunction, and ECM damage in dairy goats.
Keywords:
Staphylococcus aureus; dairy goat; gangrenous mastitis; transcriptome; proteome
