Performance of five different electrospray ionisation sources in conjunction with rapid monolithic column liquid chromatography and fast MS/MS scanning

Cysteamine Inhibits Glycine Utilisation and Disrupts Virulence in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a major opportunistic human pathogen which employs a myriad of virulence factors. In people with cystic fibrosis (CF) P. aeruginosa frequently colonises the lungs and becomes a chronic infection that evolves to become less virulent over time, but often adapts to favour persistence in the host with alginate-producing mucoid, slow-growing, and antibiotic resistant phenotypes emerging. Cysteamine is an endogenous aminothiol which has been shown to prevent biofilm formation, reduce phenazine production, and potentiate antibiotic activity against P. aeruginosa, and has been investigated in clinical trials as an adjunct therapy for pulmonary exacerbations of CF. Here we demonstrate (for the first time in a prokaryote) that cysteamine prevents glycine utilisation by P. aeruginosa in common with previously reported activity blocking the glycine cleavage system in human cells. Despite the clear inhibition of glycine metabolism, cysteamine also inhibits hydrogen cyanide (HCN) production by P. aeruginosa, suggesting a direct interference in the regulation of virulence factor synthesis. Cysteamine impaired chemotaxis, lowered pyocyanin, pyoverdine and exopolysaccharide production, and reduced the toxicity of P. aeruginosa secreted factors in a Galleria mellonella infection model. Thus, cysteamine has additional potent anti-virulence properties targeting P. aeruginosa, further supporting its therapeutic potential in CF and other infections.

Proteomic characterisation of the Chlamydia abortus outer membrane complex (COMC) using combined rapid monolithic column liquid chromatography and fast MS/MS scanning

Data are presented on the identification and partial characterisation of proteins comprising the chlamydial outer membrane complex (COMC) fraction of Chlamydia abortus (C. abortus)—the aetiological agent of ovine enzootic abortion. Inoculation with the COMC fraction is known to be highly effective in protecting sheep against experimental challenge and its constituent proteins are therefore of interest as potential vaccine candidates. Sodium N-lauroylsarcosine (sarkosyl) insoluble COMC proteins resolved by SDS-PAGE were interrogated by mass spectrometry using combined rapid monolithic column liquid chromatography and fast MS/MS scanning. Downstream database mining of processed tandem MS data revealed the presence of 67 proteins in total, including putative membrane associated proteins (n = 36), such as porins, polymorphic membrane proteins (Pmps), chaperonins and hypothetical membrane proteins, in addition to others (n = 22) that appear more likely to have originated from other subcellular compartments. Electrophoretic mobility data combined with detailed amino acid sequence information derived from secondary fragmentation spectra for 8 Pmps enabled peptides originating from protein cleavage fragments to be mapped to corresponding regions of parent precursor molecules yielding preliminary evidence in support of endogenous post-translational processing of outer membrane proteins in C. abortus. The data presented here will facilitate a deeper understanding of the pathogenesis of C. abortus infection and represent an important step towards the elucidation of the mechanisms of immunoprotection against C. abortus infection and the identification of potential target vaccine candidate antigens.

Proteomic and genomic analysis reveals novel Campylobacter jejuni outer membrane proteins and potential heterogeneity

Gram-negative bacterial outer membrane proteins play important roles in the interaction of bacteria with their environment including nutrient acquisition, adhesion and invasion, and antibiotic resistance. In this study we identified 47 proteins within the Sarkosyl-insoluble fraction of Campylobacter jejuni 81-176, using LC-ESI-MS/MS. Comparative analysis of outer membrane protein sequences was visualised to reveal protein distribution within a panel of Campylobacter spp., identifying several C. jejuni-specific proteins. Smith-Waterman analyses of C. jejuni homologues revealed high sequence conservation amongst a number of hypothetical proteins, sequence heterogeneity of other proteins and several proteins which are absent in a proportion of strains.

Performance comparisons of nano-LC systems, electrospray sources and LC-MS-MS platforms

Selecting a suitable nano-liquid chromatography system (LC), ionization source and mass spectrometer for LC-tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS) studies is complicated by numerous competing technologies. This study compares four popular nano-LC systems, four ionization sources and three MS facilities that use completely different LC-MS-MS systems. Statistically significant differences in LC performance were identified with similarly performing Proxeon, Waters and Eksigent nanoLC-Ultra systems [retention time routinely at 0.7-0.9% relative standard deviation (RSD)], and all outperformed the Eksigent nanoLC-2D (RSD ∼2%). In addition, compatibility issues were identified between the Bruker HCT ion trap mass spectrometer and both the Eksigent nanoLC-2D and the Bruker nanoelectrospray source. The electrospray source itself had an unexpected and striking effect on chromatographic reproducibility on the Bruker HCT ion trap. The New Objective nanospray source significantly outperformed the Bruker nanospray source in retention time RSD (1% RSD versus 14% RSD, respectively); and the Bruker nebulized nanospray source outperformed both of these traditional, non-nebulized sources (0.5% RSD in retention time). Finally, to provide useful benchmarks for overall proteomics sensitivity, different LC-MS-MS platforms were compared by analyzing a range of concentrations of tryptic digests of bovine serum albumin at three MS facilities. The results indicate that similar sensitivity can be realized with a Bruker HCT-Ultra ion trap, a Thermo LTQ-Velos Linear ion trap and a Thermo LTQ-Orbitrap XL-ETD.