1
|
Valdivia-Francia F, Sendoel A. No country for old methods: New tools for studying microproteins. iScience 2024; 27:108972. [PMID: 38333695 PMCID: PMC10850755 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.108972] [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] [Indexed: 02/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Microproteins encoded by small open reading frames (sORFs) have emerged as a fascinating frontier in genomics. Traditionally overlooked due to their small size, recent technological advancements such as ribosome profiling, mass spectrometry-based strategies and advanced computational approaches have led to the annotation of more than 7000 sORFs in the human genome. Despite the vast progress, only a tiny portion of these microproteins have been characterized and an important challenge in the field lies in identifying functionally relevant microproteins and understanding their role in different cellular contexts. In this review, we explore the recent advancements in sORF research, focusing on the new methodologies and computational approaches that have facilitated their identification and functional characterization. Leveraging these new tools hold great promise for dissecting the diverse cellular roles of microproteins and will ultimately pave the way for understanding their role in the pathogenesis of diseases and identifying new therapeutic targets.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Fabiola Valdivia-Francia
- University of Zurich, Institute for Regenerative Medicine (IREM), Wagistrasse 12, 8952 Schlieren-Zurich, Switzerland
- Life Science Zurich Graduate School, Molecular Life Science Program, University of Zurich/ ETH Zurich, Schlieren-Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Ataman Sendoel
- University of Zurich, Institute for Regenerative Medicine (IREM), Wagistrasse 12, 8952 Schlieren-Zurich, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Identification and characterisation of sPEPs in Cryptococcus neoformans. Fungal Genet Biol 2022; 160:103688. [PMID: 35339703 DOI: 10.1016/j.fgb.2022.103688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2022] [Revised: 03/02/2022] [Accepted: 03/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Short open reading frame (sORF)-encoded peptides (sPEPs) have been found across a wide range of genomic locations in a variety of species. To date, their identification, validation, and characterisation in the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans has been limited due to a lack of standardised protocols. We have developed an enrichment process that enables sPEP detection within a protein sample from this polysaccharide-encapsulated yeast, and implemented proteogenomics to provide insights into the validity of predicted and hypothetical sORFs annotated in the C. neoformans genome. Novel sORFs were discovered within the 5' and 3' UTRs of known transcripts as well as in "non-coding" RNAs. One novel candidate, dubbed NPB1, that resided in an RNA annotated as "non-coding", was chosen for characterisation. Through the creation of both specific point mutations and a full deletion allele, the function of the new sPEP, Npb1, was shown to resemble that of the bacterial trans-translation protein SmpB.
Collapse
|
3
|
Kute PM, Soukarieh O, Tjeldnes H, Trégouët DA, Valen E. Small Open Reading Frames, How to Find Them and Determine Their Function. Front Genet 2022; 12:796060. [PMID: 35154250 PMCID: PMC8831751 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2021.796060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2021] [Accepted: 12/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Advances in genomics and molecular biology have revealed an abundance of small open reading frames (sORFs) across all types of transcripts. While these sORFs are often assumed to be non-functional, many have been implicated in physiological functions and a significant number of sORFs have been described in human diseases. Thus, sORFs may represent a hidden repository of functional elements that could serve as therapeutic targets. Unlike protein-coding genes, it is not necessarily the encoded peptide of an sORF that enacts its function, sometimes simply the act of translating an sORF might have a regulatory role. Indeed, the most studied sORFs are located in the 5′UTRs of coding transcripts and can have a regulatory impact on the translation of the downstream protein-coding sequence. However, sORFs have also been abundantly identified in non-coding RNAs including lncRNAs, circular RNAs and ribosomal RNAs suggesting that sORFs may be diverse in function. Of the many different experimental methods used to discover sORFs, the most commonly used are ribosome profiling and mass spectrometry. These can confirm interactions between transcripts and ribosomes and the production of a peptide, respectively. Extensions to ribosome profiling, which also capture scanning ribosomes, have further made it possible to see how sORFs impact the translation initiation of mRNAs. While high-throughput techniques have made the identification of sORFs less difficult, defining their function, if any, is typically more challenging. Together, the abundance and potential function of many of these sORFs argues for the necessity of including sORFs in gene annotations and systematically characterizing these to understand their potential functional roles. In this review, we will focus on the high-throughput methods used in the detection and characterization of sORFs and discuss techniques for validation and functional characterization.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Preeti Madhav Kute
- Computational Biology Unit, Department of Informatics, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Omar Soukarieh
- Department of Molecular Epidemiology Of Vascular and Brain Disorders, INSERM, BPH, U1219, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | - Håkon Tjeldnes
- Computational Biology Unit, Department of Informatics, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - David-Alexandre Trégouët
- Department of Molecular Epidemiology Of Vascular and Brain Disorders, INSERM, BPH, U1219, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | - Eivind Valen
- Computational Biology Unit, Department of Informatics, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- *Correspondence: Eivind Valen,
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Tharakan R, Sawa A. Minireview: Novel Micropeptide Discovery by Proteomics and Deep Sequencing Methods. Front Genet 2021; 12:651485. [PMID: 34025718 PMCID: PMC8136307 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2021.651485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
A novel class of small proteins, called micropeptides, has recently been discovered in the genome. These proteins, which have been found to play important roles in many physiological and cellular systems, are shorter than 100 amino acids and were overlooked during previous genome annotations. Discovery and characterization of more micropeptides has been ongoing, often using -omics methods such as proteomics, RNA sequencing, and ribosome profiling. In this review, we survey the recent advances in the micropeptides field and describe the methodological and conceptual challenges facing future micropeptide endeavors.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ravi Tharakan
- National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Akira Sawa
- Departments of Psychiatry, Neuroscience, Biomedical Engineering, and Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.,Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
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.
Collapse
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
| | | |
Collapse
|
6
|
Cikic S, Chandra PK, Harman JC, Rutkai I, Katakam PV, Guidry JJ, Gidday JM, Busija DW. Sexual differences in mitochondrial and related proteins in rat cerebral microvessels: A proteomic approach. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 2021; 41:397-412. [PMID: 32241204 PMCID: PMC8370005 DOI: 10.1177/0271678x20915127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Sex differences in mitochondrial numbers and function are present in large cerebral arteries, but it is unclear whether these differences extend to the microcirculation. We performed an assessment of mitochondria-related proteins in cerebral microvessels (MVs) isolated from young, male and female, Sprague-Dawley rats. MVs composed of arterioles, capillaries, and venules were isolated from the cerebrum and used to perform a 3 versus 3 quantitative, multiplexed proteomics experiment utilizing tandem mass tags (TMT), coupled with liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS). MS data and bioinformatic analyses were performed using Proteome Discoverer version 2.2 and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. We identified a total of 1969 proteins, of which 1871 were quantified by TMT labels. Sixty-four proteins were expressed significantly (p < 0.05) higher in female samples compared with male samples. Females expressed more mitochondrial proteins involved in energy production, mitochondrial membrane structure, anti-oxidant enzyme proteins, and those involved in fatty acid oxidation. Conversely, males had higher expression levels of mitochondria-destructive proteins. Our findings reveal, for the first time, the full extent of sexual dimorphism in the mitochondrial metabolic protein profiles of MVs, which may contribute to sex-dependent cerebrovascular and neurological pathologies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sinisa Cikic
- Department of Pharmacology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Partha K Chandra
- Department of Pharmacology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Jarrod C Harman
- Department of Ophthalmology, Louisiana State University Health Science Center, New Orleans, LA, USA.,Department of Physiology, Louisiana State University Health Science Center, New Orleans, LA, USA.,Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Louisiana State University Health Science Center, New Orleans, LA, USA.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Louisiana State University Health Science Center, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Ibolya Rutkai
- Department of Pharmacology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.,Tulane Brain Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Prasad Vg Katakam
- Department of Pharmacology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.,Tulane Brain Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Jessie J Guidry
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Louisiana State University Health Science Center, New Orleans, LA, USA.,Proteomics Core Facility, Louisiana State University Health Science Center, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Jeffrey M Gidday
- Department of Ophthalmology, Louisiana State University Health Science Center, New Orleans, LA, USA.,Department of Physiology, Louisiana State University Health Science Center, New Orleans, LA, USA.,Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Louisiana State University Health Science Center, New Orleans, LA, USA.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Louisiana State University Health Science Center, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - David W Busija
- Department of Pharmacology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.,Tulane Brain Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Zhang S, Chen Y, Wang Y, Zhang P, Chen G, Zhou Y. Insights Into Translatomics in the Nervous System. Front Genet 2021; 11:599548. [PMID: 33408739 PMCID: PMC7779767 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2020.599548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2020] [Accepted: 11/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Most neurological disorders are caused by abnormal gene translation. Generally, dysregulation of elements involved in the translational process disrupts homeostasis in neurons and neuroglia. Better understanding of how the gene translation process occurs requires detailed analysis of transcriptomic and proteomic profile data. However, a lack of strictly direct correlations between mRNA and protein levels limits translational investigation by combining transcriptomic and proteomic profiling. The much better correlation between proteins and translated mRNAs than total mRNAs in abundance and insufficiently sensitive proteomics approach promote the requirement of advances in translatomics technology. Translatomics which capture and sequence the mRNAs associated with ribosomes has been effective in identifying translational changes by genetics or projections, ribosome stalling, local translation, and transcript isoforms in the nervous system. Here, we place emphasis on the main three translatomics methods currently used to profile mRNAs attached to ribosome-nascent chain complex (RNC-mRNA). Their prominent applications in neurological diseases including glioma, neuropathic pain, depression, fragile X syndrome (FXS), neurodegenerative disorders are outlined. The content reviewed here expands our understanding on the contributions of aberrant translation to neurological disease development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shuxia Zhang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yeru Chen
- Department of Anesthesiology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yongjie Wang
- Key Laboratory of Elemene Anti-Cancer Medicine of Zhejiang Province and Holistic Integrative Pharmacy Institutes, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.,Engineering Laboratory of Development and Application of Traditional Chinese Medicine from Zhejiang Province, Holistic Integrative Pharmacy Institutes, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Piao Zhang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Gang Chen
- Department of Anesthesiology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Youfa Zhou
- Department of Anesthesiology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Fabre B, Combier JP, Plaza S. Recent advances in mass spectrometry-based peptidomics workflows to identify short-open-reading-frame-encoded peptides and explore their functions. Curr Opin Chem Biol 2021; 60:122-130. [PMID: 33401134 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2020.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2020] [Revised: 11/26/2020] [Accepted: 12/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Short open reading frame (sORF)-encoded polypeptides (SEPs) have recently emerged as key regulators of major cellular processes. Computational methods for the annotation of sORFs combined with transcriptomics and ribosome profiling approaches predicted the existence of tens of thousands of SEPs across the kingdom of life. Although, we still lack unambiguous evidence for most of them. The method of choice to validate the expression of SEPs is mass spectrometry (MS)-based peptidomics. Peptides are less abundant than proteins, which tends to hinder their detection. Therefore, optimization and enrichment methods are necessary to validate the existence of SEPs. In this article, we discuss the challenges for the detection of SEPs by MS and recent developments of biochemical approaches applied to the study of these peptides. We detail the advances made in the different key steps of a typical peptidomics workflow and highlight possible alternatives that have not been explored yet.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Bertrand Fabre
- Laboratoire de Recherche en Sciences Végétales, UMR5546, Université de Toulouse, UPS, CNRS, 31320, Auzeville-Tolosane, France.
| | - Jean-Philippe Combier
- Laboratoire de Recherche en Sciences Végétales, UMR5546, Université de Toulouse, UPS, CNRS, 31320, Auzeville-Tolosane, France
| | - Serge Plaza
- Laboratoire de Recherche en Sciences Végétales, UMR5546, Université de Toulouse, UPS, CNRS, 31320, Auzeville-Tolosane, France
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Fesenko I, Kirov I, Kniazev A, Khazigaleeva R, Lazarev V, Kharlampieva D, Grafskaia E, Zgoda V, Butenko I, Arapidi G, Mamaeva A, Ivanov V, Govorun V. Distinct types of short open reading frames are translated in plant cells. Genome Res 2019; 29:1464-1477. [PMID: 31387879 PMCID: PMC6724668 DOI: 10.1101/gr.253302.119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2019] [Accepted: 08/01/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Genomes contain millions of short (<100 codons) open reading frames (sORFs), which are usually dismissed during gene annotation. Nevertheless, peptides encoded by such sORFs can play important biological roles, and their impact on cellular processes has long been underestimated. Here, we analyzed approximately 70,000 transcribed sORFs in the model plant Physcomitrella patens (moss). Several distinct classes of sORFs that differ in terms of their position on transcripts and the level of evolutionary conservation are present in the moss genome. Over 5000 sORFs were conserved in at least one of 10 plant species examined. Mass spectrometry analysis of proteomic and peptidomic data sets suggested that tens of sORFs located on distinct parts of mRNAs and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are translated, including conserved sORFs. Translational analysis of the sORFs and main ORFs at a single locus suggested the existence of genes that code for multiple proteins and peptides with tissue-specific expression. Functional analysis of four lncRNA-encoded peptides showed that sORFs-encoded peptides are involved in regulation of growth and differentiation in moss. Knocking out lncRNA-encoded peptides resulted in a decrease of moss growth. In contrast, the overexpression of these peptides resulted in a diverse range of phenotypic effects. Our results thus open new avenues for discovering novel, biologically active peptides in the plant kingdom.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Igor Fesenko
- Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Ilya Kirov
- Laboratory of marker-assisted and genomic selection of plants, All-Russian Research Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology, 127550 Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Andrey Kniazev
- Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Regina Khazigaleeva
- Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Vassili Lazarev
- Federal Research and Clinical Center of Physical-Chemical Medicine of Federal Medical Biological Agency, 119435 Moscow, Russian Federation.,Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (National Research University), 141701 Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region, Russian Federation
| | - Daria Kharlampieva
- Federal Research and Clinical Center of Physical-Chemical Medicine of Federal Medical Biological Agency, 119435 Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Ekaterina Grafskaia
- Federal Research and Clinical Center of Physical-Chemical Medicine of Federal Medical Biological Agency, 119435 Moscow, Russian Federation.,Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (National Research University), 141701 Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region, Russian Federation
| | - Viktor Zgoda
- Laboratory of System Biology, Institute of Biomedical Chemistry, 119121 Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Ivan Butenko
- Federal Research and Clinical Center of Physical-Chemical Medicine of Federal Medical Biological Agency, 119435 Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Georgy Arapidi
- Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russian Federation.,Federal Research and Clinical Center of Physical-Chemical Medicine of Federal Medical Biological Agency, 119435 Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Anna Mamaeva
- Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Vadim Ivanov
- Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Vadim Govorun
- Federal Research and Clinical Center of Physical-Chemical Medicine of Federal Medical Biological Agency, 119435 Moscow, Russian Federation
| |
Collapse
|