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Sahgal A, Uversky V, Davé V. Microproteins transitioning into a new Phase: Defining the undefined. Methods 2023; 220:38-54. [PMID: 37890707 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymeth.2023.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Revised: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/21/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent advancements in omics technologies have unveiled a hitherto unknown group of short polypeptides called microproteins (miPs). Despite their size, accumulating evidence has demonstrated that miPs exert varied and potent biological functions. They act in paracrine, juxtracrine, and endocrine fashion, maintaining cellular physiology and driving diseases. The present study focuses on biochemical and biophysical analysis and characterization of twenty-four human miPs using distinct computational methods, including RIDAO, AlphaFold2, D2P2, FuzDrop, STRING, and Emboss Pep wheel. miPs often lack well-defined tertiary structures and may harbor intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) that play pivotal roles in cellular functions. Our analyses define the physicochemical properties of an essential subset of miPs, elucidating their structural characteristics and demonstrating their propensity for driving or participating in liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) and intracellular condensate formation. Notably, miPs such as NoBody and pTUNAR revealed a high propensity for LLPS, implicating their potential involvement in forming membrane-less organelles (MLOs) during intracellular LLPS and condensate formation. The results of our study indicate that miPs have functionally profound implications in cellular compartmentalization and signaling processes essential for regulating normal cellular functions. Taken together, our methodological approach explains and highlights the biological importance of these miPs, providing a deeper understanding of the unusual structural landscape and functionality of these newly defined small proteins. Understanding their functions and biological behavior will aid in developing targeted therapies for diseases that involve miPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aayushi Sahgal
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612, United States; Biotechnology Graduate Program, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612, United States
| | - Vladimir Uversky
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612, United States; USF Health Byrd Alzheimer's Research Institute, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612, United States
| | - Vrushank Davé
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612, United States; Biotechnology Graduate Program, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612, United States; Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612, United States; Department of Oncologic Sciences, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612, United States.
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Yang Y, Wang H, Zhang Y, Chen L, Chen G, Bao Z, Yang Y, Xie Z, Zhao Q. An Optimized Proteomics Approach Reveals Novel Alternative Proteins in Mouse Liver Development. Mol Cell Proteomics 2022; 22:100480. [PMID: 36494044 PMCID: PMC9823216 DOI: 10.1016/j.mcpro.2022.100480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2022] [Revised: 11/15/2022] [Accepted: 12/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Alternative ORFs (AltORFs) are unannotated sequences in genome that encode novel peptides or proteins named alternative proteins (AltProts). Although ribosome profiling and bioinformatics predict a large number of AltProts, mass spectrometry as the only direct way of identification is hampered by the short lengths and relative low abundance of AltProts. There is an urgent need for improvement of mass spectrometry methodologies for AltProt identification. Here, we report an approach based on size-exclusion chromatography for simultaneous enrichment and fractionation of AltProts from complex proteome. This method greatly simplifies the variance of AltProts discovery by enriching small proteins smaller than 40 kDa. In a systematic comparison between 10 methods, the approach we reported enabled the discovery of more AltProts with overall higher intensities, with less cost of time and effort compared to other workflows. We applied this approach to identify 89 novel AltProts from mouse liver, 39 of which were differentially expressed between embryonic and adult mice. During embryonic development, the upregulated AltProts were mainly involved in biological pathways on RNA splicing and processing, whereas the AltProts involved in metabolisms were more active in adult livers. Our study not only provides an effective approach for identifying AltProts but also novel AltProts that are potentially important in developmental biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, SAR, China
| | - Hongwei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yuanliang Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, SAR, China
| | - Lei Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, SAR, China
| | - Gennong Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Zhaoshi Bao
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical School, Beijing, China
| | - Yang Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, SAR, China
| | - Zhi Xie
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Qian Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, SAR, China,For correspondence: Qian Zhao
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Yuanyuan J, Xinqiang Y. Micropeptides Identified from Human Genomes. J Proteome Res 2022; 21:865-873. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.1c00889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jing Yuanyuan
- School of Public Health, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong 637000, China
| | - Yin Xinqiang
- School of Basic Medicine and Forensics, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong 637000, China
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Vitorino R, Guedes S, Amado F, Santos M, Akimitsu N. The role of micropeptides in biology. Cell Mol Life Sci 2021; 78:3285-3298. [PMID: 33507325 PMCID: PMC11073438 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-020-03740-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2020] [Revised: 12/01/2020] [Accepted: 12/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Micropeptides are small polypeptides coded by small open-reading frames. Progress in computational biology and the analyses of large-scale transcriptomes and proteomes have revealed that mammalian genomes produce a large number of transcripts encoding micropeptides. Many of these have been previously annotated as long noncoding RNAs. The role of micropeptides in cellular homeostasis maintenance has been demonstrated. This review discusses different types of micropeptides as well as methods to identify them, such as computational approaches, ribosome profiling, and mass spectrometry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rui Vitorino
- Departamento de Cirurgia E Fisiologia, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Do Porto, UnIC, Porto, Portugal.
- Department of Medical Sciences, iBiMED, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.
| | - Sofia Guedes
- Departamento de Química, LAQV-REQUIMTE, Universidade de Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
- Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Francisco Amado
- Departamento de Química, LAQV-REQUIMTE, Universidade de Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
- Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Manuel Santos
- Department of Medical Sciences, iBiMED, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
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Wang R, Lan L, Liu L, Cheng L. Asymmetric polymerase chain reaction and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (AP-LAMP) for ultrasensitive detection of microRNAs. CHINESE CHEM LETT 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cclet.2019.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
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Li X, Liu L, Li Y. 15th Chinese International Peptide Symposium. CHINESE CHEM LETT 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cclet.2018.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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