Phosphoproteomics analysis of a clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing isolate: expanding the mycobacterial phosphoproteome catalog

Reversible protein phosphorylation, regulated by protein kinases and phosphatases, mediates a switch between protein activity and cellular pathways that contribute to a large number of cellular processes. The Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome encodes 11 Serine/Threonine kinases (STPKs) which show close homology to eukaryotic kinases. This study aimed to elucidate the phosphoproteomic landscape of a clinical isolate of M. tuberculosis. We performed a high throughput mass spectrometric analysis of proteins extracted from an early-logarithmic phase culture. Whole cell lysate proteins were processed using the filter-aided sample preparation method, followed by phosphopeptide enrichment of tryptic peptides by strong cation exchange (SCX) and Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) chromatography. The MaxQuant quantitative proteomics software package was used for protein identification. Our analysis identified 414 serine/threonine/tyrosine phosphorylated sites, with a distribution of S/T/Y sites; 38% on serine, 59% on threonine and 3% on tyrosine; present on 303 unique peptides mapping to 214 M. tuberculosis proteins. Only 45 of the S/T/Y phosphorylated proteins identified in our study had been previously described in the laboratory strain H₃₇Rv, confirming previous reports. The remaining 169 phosphorylated proteins were newly identified in this clinical M. tuberculosis Beijing strain. We identified 5 novel tyrosine phosphorylated proteins. These findings not only expand upon our current understanding of the protein phosphorylation network in clinical M. tuberculosis but the data set also further extends and complements previous knowledge regarding phosphorylated peptides and phosphorylation sites in M. tuberculosis.

Active transcriptomic and proteomic reprogramming in the C. elegans nucleotide excision repair mutant xpa-1

Transcription-blocking oxidative DNA damage is believed to contribute to aging and to underlie activation of oxidative stress responses and down-regulation of insulin-like signaling (ILS) in Nucleotide Excision Repair (NER) deficient mice. Here, we present the first quantitative proteomic description of the Caenorhabditis elegans NER-defective xpa-1 mutant and compare the proteome and transcriptome signatures. Both methods indicated activation of oxidative stress responses, which was substantiated biochemically by a bioenergetic shift involving increased steady-state reactive oxygen species (ROS) and Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels. We identify the lesion-detection enzymes of Base Excision Repair (NTH-1) and global genome NER (XPC-1 and DDB-1) as upstream requirements for transcriptomic reprogramming as RNA-interference mediated depletion of these enzymes prevented up-regulation of genes over-expressed in the xpa-1 mutant. The transcription factors SKN-1 and SLR-2, but not DAF-16, were identified as effectors of reprogramming. As shown in human XPA cells, the levels of transcription-blocking 8,5'-cyclo-2'-deoxyadenosine lesions were reduced in the xpa-1 mutant compared to the wild type. Hence, accumulation of cyclopurines is unlikely to be sufficient for reprogramming. Instead, our data support a model where the lesion-detection enzymes NTH-1, XPC-1 and DDB-1 play active roles to generate a genomic stress signal sufficiently strong to result in transcriptomic reprogramming in the xpa-1 mutant.

Quantitative proteome analysis reveals RNA processing factors as modulators of ionizing radiation-induced apoptosis in the C. elegans germline

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is an organism most recognized for forward and reverse genetic and functional genomic approaches. Proteomic analyses of DNA damage-induced apoptosis have not been shown because of a limited number of cells undergoing apoptosis. We applied mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomics to evaluate protein changes induced by ionizing radiation (IR) in isolated C. elegans germlines. For this purpose, we used isobaric peptide termini labeling (IPTL) combined with the data analysis tool IsobariQ, which utilizes MS/MS spectra for relative quantification of peak pairs formed during fragmentation. Using stringent statistical critera, we identified 48 proteins to be significantly up- or down-regulated, most of which are part of a highly interconnected protein-protein interaction network dominated by proteins involved in translational control. RNA-mediated depletion of a selection of the IR-regulated proteins revealed that the conserved CAR-1/CGH-1/CEY-3 germline RNP complex acts as a novel negative regulator of DNA-damage induced apoptosis. Finally, a central role of nucleolar proteins in orchestrating these responses was confirmed as the H/ACA snRNP protein GAR-1 was required for IR-induced apoptosis in the C. elegans germline.

A quantitative view on Mycobacterium leprae antigens by proteomics

Leprosy is an ancient disease and the focus of the researchers' scrutiny for more than a century. However, many of the molecular aspects related to transmission, virulence, antigens and immune responses are far from known. Initially, the implementation of recombinant DNA library screens raised interesting antigen candidates. Finally, the availability of Mycobacterium leprae genomic information showed an intriguing genome reduction which is now largely used in comparative genomics. While predictive in silico tools are commonly used to identify possible antigens, proteomic approaches have not yet been explored fully to study M. leprae biology. Quantitative information obtained at the protein level, and its analysis as part of a complex system, would be a key feature to be used to help researchers to validate and understand many of such in silico predictions. Through a re-analysis of data from a previous publication of our group, we could easily tackle many questions regarding antigen prediction and pseudogene expression. Several well known antigens are among the quantitatively dominant proteins, while several major proteins have not been explored as antigens. We argue that combining proteomic approaches together with bioinformatic workflows is a required step in the characterization of important pathogens.

Proteomic analysis of total cellular proteins of human neutrophils

Background

Neutrophils are the most abundant leukocytes in peripheral blood and represent one of the most important elements of innate immunity. Recent subcellular proteomic studies have focused on the identification of human neutrophil proteins in various subcellular membrane and granular fractions. Although there are relatively few studies dealing with the analysis of the total extract of human neutrophils, many biological problems such as the role of chemokines, adhesion molecules, and other activating inputs involved in neutrophil responses and signaling can be approached on the basis of the identification of the total cellular proteins.

Results

Using gel-LC-MS/MS, 251 total cellular proteins were identified from resting human neutrophils. This is more than ten times the number of proteins identified by an initial proteome analysis of human neutrophils and almost five times the number of proteins identified by the first 2-DE map of extracts of rat polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Most of the proteins identified in the present study are well-known, but some of them, such as neutrophil-secreted proteins and centaurin beta-1, a cytoplasmic protein involved in the regulation of NF-κB activity, are described here for the first-time.

Conclusion

The present report provides new information about the protein content of human neutrophils. Importantly, our study resulted in the discovery of a series of proteins not previously reported to be associated with human neutrophils. These data are relevant to the investigation of comparative pathological states and models for novel classes of pharmaceutical drugs that could be useful in the treatment of inflammatory disorders in which neutrophils participate.