miR-31-mediated local translation at the mitotic spindle is important for early development

miR-31 is a highly conserved microRNA that plays critical roles in cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation. We discovered miR-31 and some of its validated targets are enriched on the mitotic spindle of the dividing sea urchin embryo and mammalian cells. Using the sea urchin embryo, we found that miR-31 inhibition led to developmental delay correlated with increased cytoskeleton and chromosomal defects. We identified miR-31 to directly suppress several actin remodeling transcripts, β-actin, Gelsolin, Rab35 and Fascin, which were localized to the mitotic spindle. miR-31 inhibition leads to increased newly translated Fascin at the spindles. Forced ectopic localization of Fascin transcripts to the cell membrane and translation led to significant developmental and chromosomal segregation defects, leading to our hypothesis that miR-31 regulates local translation at the mitotic spindle to ensure proper cell division. Furthermore, miR-31-mediated post-transcriptional regulation at the mitotic spindle may be an evolutionarily conserved regulatory paradigm of mitosis.

Proteomic and physiological experiments to test Thermotoga neapolitana constraint-based model hypotheses of carbon source utilization

Constraint-based models of biochemical reaction networks require experimental validation to test model-derived hypotheses and iteratively improve the model. Physiological and proteomic analysis of Thermotoga neapolitana growth on cellotetraose was conducted to identify gene products related to growth on cellotetraose to improve a constraint-based model of T. neapolitana central carbon metabolism with incomplete cellotetraose pathways. In physiological experiments comparing cellotetraose to cellobiose and glucose as growth substrates, product formation yields on cellotetraose, cellobiose, and glucose were similar; however cell yields per mol carbon consumed were higher on cellotetraose than on cellobiose or glucose. Proteomic analysis showed increased expression of several proteins from cells grown on cellotetraose compared with glucose cell cultures, including cellobiose phosphorylase (CTN_0783), endo-1,4-β-glucosidase (CTN_1106), and an ATP-binding protein (CTN_1296). The CTN_1296 gene product should be evaluated further for participation in cellotetraose metabolism and is included as one of two hypothetical gene-protein-reaction associations in the T. neapolitana constraint-based model to reinstate cellotetraose metabolism in model simulations.

Proteomic assessment of a cell model of spinal muscular atrophy

Background

Deletion or mutation(s) of the survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1) gene causes spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a neuromuscular disease characterized by spinal motor neuron death and muscle paralysis. Complete loss of the SMN protein is embryonically lethal, yet reduced levels of this protein result in selective death of motor neurons. Why motor neurons are specifically targeted by SMN deficiency remains to be determined. In this study, embryonic stem (ES) cells derived from a severe SMA mouse model were differentiated into motor neurons in vitro by addition of retinoic acid and sonic hedgehog agonist. Proteomic and western blot analyses were used to probe protein expression alterations in this cell-culture model of SMA that could be relevant to the disease.

Results

When ES cells were primed with Noggin/fibroblast growth factors (bFGF and FGF-8) in a more robust neural differentiation medium for 2 days before differentiation induction, the efficiency of in vitro motor neuron differentiation was improved from ~25% to ~50%. The differentiated ES cells expressed a pan-neuronal marker (neurofilament) and motor neuron markers (Hb9, Islet-1, and ChAT). Even though SMN-deficient ES cells had marked reduced levels of SMN (~20% of that in control ES cells), the morphology and differentiation efficiency for these cells are comparable to those for control samples. However, proteomics in conjunction with western blot analyses revealed 6 down-regulated and 14 up-regulated proteins with most of them involved in energy metabolism, cell stress-response, protein degradation, and cytoskeleton stability. Some of these activated cellular pathways showed specificity for either undifferentiated or differentiated cells. Increased p21 protein expression indicated that SMA ES cells were responding to cellular stress. Up-regulation of p21 was confirmed in spinal cord tissues from the same SMA mouse model from which the ES cells were derived.

Conclusion

SMN-deficient ES cells provide a cell-culture model for SMA. SMN deficiency activates cellular stress pathways, causing a dysregulation of energy metabolism, protein degradation, and cytoskeleton stability.

Protein extraction and 2-DE of water- and lipid-soluble proteins from bovine pericardium, a low-cellularity tissue

Bovine pericardium (BP) is an important biomaterial used in the production of glutaraldehyde-fixed heart valves and tissue-engineering applications. The ability to perform proteomic analysis on BP is useful for a range of studies, including investigation of immune rejection after implantation. However, proteomic analysis of fibrous tissues such as BP is challenging due to their relative low-cellularity and abundance of extracellular matrix. A variety of methods for tissue treatment, protein extraction, and fractionation were investigated with the aim of producing high-quality 2-DE gels for both water- and lipid-soluble BP proteins. Extraction of water-soluble proteins with 3-(benzyldimethylammonio)-propanesulfonate followed by n-dodecyl beta-D-maltoside extraction and ethanol precipitation for lipid-soluble proteins provided the best combination of yield, spot number, and resolution on 2-DE gels (Protocol E2). ESI-quadrupole/ion trap or MALDI-TOF/TOF MS protein identifications were performed to confirm bovine origin and appropriate subcellular prefractionation of resolved proteins. Twenty-five unique, predominantly cytoplasmic bovine proteins were identified from the water-soluble fraction. Thirty-two unique, predominantly membrane bovine proteins were identified from the lipid-soluble fraction. These results demonstrated that the final protocol produced high-quality proteomic data from this important tissue for both cytoplasmic and membrane proteins.

iTRAQPak: an R based analysis and visualization package for 8-plex isobaric protein expression data

The field of high throughput proteomics has spawned a number of mass spectrometry-based technologies, which enable the quantitative analysis of protein expression. One of these technologies is iTRAQ (trademarked by Applied Biosystems), which through the use of isobaric tags, enables the quantitation of up to eight complex protein samples in a single multiplexed analysis. Isobaric tagging methods are emerging as an important tool to study protein expression dynamics. In this report, we describe iTRAQPak, a free software package developed in the R statistical and visualization environment that can be applied to the analysis of 8-plex expression data. The utility of this package is demonstrated through its application to the analysis of 8-plex iTRAQ protein expression data obtained from cerebrospinal fluid samples from Alzheimer's disease subjects involved in a Phase I drug trial.

8-plex quantitation of changes in cerebrospinal fluid protein expression in subjects undergoing intravenous immunoglobulin treatment for Alzheimer's disease

An 8-plex version of an isobaric reagent for the quantitation of proteins using shotgun methods is presented. The 8-plex version of the reagent relies on amine-labeling chemistry of peptides similar to 4-plex reagents. MS/MS reporter ions at 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, and 121 m/z are used to quantify protein expression. This technology which was first applied to a test mixture consisting of eight proteins and resulted in accurate quantitation, has the potential to increase throughput of analysis for quantitative shotgun proteomics experiments when compared to 2- and 4-plex methods. The technology was subsequently applied to a longitudinal study of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteins from subjects undergoing intravenous Ig treatment for Alzheimer's disease. Results from this study identify a number of protein expression changes that occur in CSF after 3 and 6 months of treatment compared to a baseline and compared to a drug washout period. A visualization tool was developed for this dataset and is presented. The tool can aid in the identification of key peptides and measurements. One conclusion aided by the visualization tool is that there are differences in considering peptide-based observations versus protein-based observations from quantitative shotgun proteomics studies.