Identification of differentially expressed proteins in heart of mouse death from smother based on label-free proteomics

•Identification of mechanical asphyxia without obvious surface damage using label-free proteomics.•To provide auxiliary diagnostic indices for mechanical asphyxia death in forensic.•A preliminary analysis of the death mechanism of mechanical asphyxia has been carried out. Identification of mechanical asphyxia deaths without obvious injuries is a difficult problem for forensic medicine. This study aimed to identify molecular biological markers to predict death from mechanical asphyxia (smother). We established a smother model by over the head with plastic bag tightly until the mice died and applied label-free proteomic technology to identify differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in the heart. A total of 3307 proteins were quantified, and a Fold Change (FC) > 1.2 (or