Soluble nanopolymer-based phosphoproteomics for studying protein phosphatase

Chromatographic separation strategies for precision mass spectrometry to study protein-protein interactions and protein phosphorylation

Investigating protein-protein interactions and protein phosphorylation can be of great significance when studying biological processes and human diseases at the molecular level. However, sample complexity, presence of low abundance proteins, and dynamic nature of the proteins often impede in achieving sufficient analytical depth in proteomics research. In this regard, chromatographic separation methodologies have played a vital role in the identification and quantification of proteins in complex sample mixtures. The combination of peptide and protein fractionation techniques with advanced high-performance mass spectrometry has allowed the researchers to successfully study the protein-protein interactions and protein phosphorylation. Several new fractionation strategies for large scale analysis of proteins and peptides have been developed to study protein-protein interactions and protein phosphorylation. These emerging chromatography methodologies have enabled the identification of several hundred protein complexes and even thousands of phosphorylation sites in a single study. In this review, we focus on current workflow strategies and chromatographic tools, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages, and examining their associated challenges and future potential.

Phosphorylation of Drebrin and Its Role in Neuritogenesis

Neuritogenesis is an early event in neuronal development in which newborn neurons first form growth cones, as a prerequisite for the formation of axons and dendrites. Growth cones emerge from segmented regions of the lamellipodium of embryonic neurons and grow away from the cell body leaving behind a neurite that will eventually polarise into an axon or dendrite. Growth cones also function to navigate precise routes through the embryo to locate an appropriate synaptic partner. Dynamic interactions between two components of the neuronal cytoskeleton, actin filaments and microtubules, are known to be essential for growth cone formation and hence neuritogenesis. The molecular mechanisms that coordinate interactions between actin filaments and dynamic microtubules during neuritogenesis are beginning to be understood. One candidate pathway coupling actin filaments to microtubules consists of the actin filament-binding protein drebrin and the microtubule-binding +TIP protein EB3. This pathway is regulated proximally by cyclin-dependent kinase 5 phosphorylation of drebrin but the upstream elements in the pathway have yet to be identified.