Delphine Pflieger

A Thiol Peroxidase Is an H2O2 Receptor and Redox-Transducer in Gene Activation

The Yap1 transcription factor regulates hydroperoxide homeostasis in S. cerevisiae. Yap1 is activated by oxidation when hydroperoxide levels increase. We show that Yap1 is not directly oxidized by hydroperoxide. We identified the glutathione peroxidase (GPx)-like enzyme Gpx3 as a second component of the pathway, serving the role of sensor and transducer of the hydroperoxide signal to Yap1. When oxidized by H2O2, Gpx3 Cys36 bridges Yap1 Cys598 by a disulfide bond. This intermolecular disulfide bond is then resolved into a Yap1 intramolecular disulfide bond, the activated form of the regulator. Thioredoxin turns off the pathway by reducing both sensor and regulator. These data reveal a redox-signaling function for a GPx-like enzyme and elucidate a eukaryotic hydroperoxide-sensing mechanism. Gpx3 is thus a hydroperoxide receptor and redox-transducer.

Brassinosteroid-regulated GSK3/Shaggy-like Kinases Phosphorylate Mitogen-activated Protein (MAP) Kinase Kinases, Which Control Stomata Development in Arabidopsis thaliana

Background: Brassinosteroids (BRs) are plant steroids that signal through the inhibition of GSK3/Shaggy-like kinases such as BIN2. Results: We show here that BIN2 phosphorylates MKK4, which inhibits its activity against MPK6, in a MAPK module that controls stomata patterning. Conclusion: BRs control cellular patterning via BIN2-mediated suppression of MKK4 activity. Significance: Novel cross-talk of GSK3 and MAPK signaling is revealed. Brassinosteroids (BRs) are steroid hormones that coordinate fundamental developmental programs in plants. In this study we show that in addition to the well established roles of BRs in regulating cell elongation and cell division events, BRs also govern cell fate decisions during stomata development in Arabidopsis thaliana. In wild-type A. thaliana, stomatal distribution follows the one-cell spacing rule; that is, adjacent stomata are spaced by at least one intervening pavement cell. This rule is interrupted in BR-deficient and BR signaling-deficient A. thaliana mutants, resulting in clustered stomata. We demonstrate that BIN2 and its homologues, GSK3/Shaggy-like kinases involved in BR signaling, can phosphorylate the MAPK kinases MKK4 and MKK5, which are members of the MAPK module YODA-MKK4/5-MPK3/6 that controls stomata development and patterning. BIN2 phosphorylates a GSK3/Shaggy-like kinase recognition motif in MKK4, which reduces MKK4 activity against its substrate MPK6 in vitro. In vivo we show that MKK4 and MKK5 act downstream of BR signaling because their overexpression rescued stomata patterning defects in BR-deficient plants. A model is proposed in which GSK3-mediated phosphorylation of MKK4 and MKK5 enables for a dynamic integration of endogenous or environmental cues signaled by BRs into cell fate decisions governed by the YODA-MKK4/5-MPK3/6 module.

Subproteomics analysis of phosphorylated proteins: application to the study of B-lymphoblasts from a patient with Scott syndrome.

Proteomics based approaches, which examine the expressed proteins of a tissue or cell type, complement the genome initiatives and are increasingly used to address biomedical questions. Proteins are the main functional output, and post‐translational modifications such as phosphorylation are very important in determining protein function. To address this question, we developed a method for specific immunoprecipitation using anti‐phosphotyrosine antibodies. This method is directly compatible with two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis (2‐DE). In this report data are presented on B‐lymphoblasts from a patient suffering of Scott syndrome. Scott syndrome is an orphan inherited hemorrhagic disorder due to a lack of exposure of procoagulant phosphatidylserine at the exoplasmic leaflet of plasma membrane of blood cells. We hypothesized that a consequence of the mutation is to alter phosphorylation of proteins involved in signal transduction leading to breakdown in cellular signaling pathways mediating phosphatidylserine exposure. An immunoprecipitation method combined with 2‐DE was applied to search for modifications in the expression of phosphorylated polypeptides related to Scott syndrome phenotype. We report here the construction of a B‐lymphoblast subproteomic map comprising of polypeptides observed after immunoprecipitation using antibodies to phosphotyrosine. The polypeptides were identified either by mass fingerprinting, by liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry (LC‐MS/MS) and/or by matching with various lymphoid cell 2‐DE maps included in the Laboratoire de Biochimie des Protéines et Protéomique 2‐DE database. A differential analysis was further performed to explore several hundred proteins in Scott B‐lymphoblasts in comparison with control B‐lymphoblasts. Then, image analysis allowed detection of variations between control and Scott syndrome phenotype lymphoblasts. Five spots were specifically found on 2‐DE from Scott syndrome phenotype lymphoblasts, and four only appeared on 2‐DE from control cells. Protein identification was achieved using a combination of mass fingerprinting and peptide identification using LC‐MS/MS.

Interactome of the Amyloid Precursor Protein APP in Brain Reveals a Protein Network Involved in Synaptic Vesicle Turnover and a Close Association with Synaptotagmin-1

Knowledge of the protein networks interacting with the amyloid precursor protein (APP) in vivo can shed light on the physiological function of APP. To date, most proteins interacting with the APP intracellular domain (AICD) have been identified by Yeast Two Hybrid screens which only detect direct interaction partners. We used a proteomics-based approach by biochemically isolating tagged APP from the brains of transgenic mice and subjecting the affinity-purified complex to mass spectrometric (MS) analysis. Using two different quantitative MS approaches, we compared the protein composition of affinity-purified samples isolated from wild-type mice versus transgenic mice expressing tagged APP. This enabled us to assess truly enriched proteins in the transgenic sample and yielded an overlapping set of proteins containing the major proteins involved in synaptic vesicle endo- and exocytosis. Confocal microscopy analyses of cotransfected primary neurons showed colocalization of APP with synaptic vesicle proteins in vesicular structures throughout the neurites. We analyzed the interaction of APP with these proteins using pulldown experiments from transgenic mice or cotransfected cells followed by Western blotting. Synaptotagmin-1 (Stg1), a resident synaptic vesicle protein, was found to directly bind to APP. We fused Citrine and Cerulean to APP and the candidate proteins and measured fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) in differentiated SH-SY5Y cells. Differentially tagged APPs showed clear sensitized FRET emission, in line with the described dimerization of APP. Among the candidate APP-interacting proteins, again only Stg1 was in close proximity to APP. Our results strongly argue for a function of APP in synaptic vesicle turnover in vivo. Thus, in addition to the APP cleavage product Aβ, which influences synaptic transmission at the postsynapse, APP interacts with the calcium sensor of synaptic vesicles and might thus play a role in the regulation of synaptic vesicle exocytosis.

Analysis of Human C1q by Combined Bottom-up and Top-down Mass Spectrometry DETAILED MAPPING OF POST-TRANSLATIONAL MODIFICATIONS AND INSIGHTS INTO THE C1R/C1S BINDING SITES

C1q is a subunit of the C1 complex, a key player in innate immunity that triggers activation of the classical complement pathway. Featuring a unique structural organization and comprising a collagen-like domain with a high level of post-translational modifications, C1q represents a challenging protein assembly for structural biology. We report for the first time a comprehensive proteomics study of C1q combining bottom-up and top-down analyses. C1q was submitted to proteolytic digestion by a combination of collagenase and trypsin for bottom-up analyses. In addition to classical LC-MS/MS analyses, which provided reliable identification of hydroxylated proline and lysine residues, sugar loss-triggered MS3 scans were acquired on an LTQ-Orbitrap (Linear Quadrupole Ion Trap-Orbitrap) instrument to strengthen the localization of glucosylgalactosyl disaccharide moieties on hydroxylysine residues. Top-down analyses performed on the same instrument allowed high accuracy and high resolution mass measurements of the intact full-length C1q polypeptide chains and the iterative fragmentation of the proteins in the MSn mode. This study illustrates the usefulness of combining the two complementary analytical approaches to obtain a detailed characterization of the post-translational modification pattern of the collagen-like domain of C1q and highlights the structural heterogeneity of individual molecules. Most importantly, three lysine residues of the collagen-like domain, namely Lys59 (A chain), Lys61 (B chain), and Lys58 (C chain), were unambiguously shown to be completely unmodified. These lysine residues are located about halfway along the collagen-like fibers. They are thus fully available and in an appropriate position to interact with the C1r and C1s protease partners of C1q and are therefore likely to play an essential role in C1 assembly.

Quantitative analysis of protein complex constituents and their phosphorylation states on a LTQ-Orbitrap instrument.

Cellular functions are largely carried out by noncovalent protein complexes that may exist within the cell as stable modules or as assemblies of dynamically changing composition, whose formation and decomposition are triggered in response to extracellular stimuli. The protein constituents of complexes often exhibit post-translational modifications such as phosphorylation that can impact their ability to interact with other proteins and thus to form multicomponent complexes. A complete characterization of a particular protein complex thus requires determining both, the identity of interacting proteins and their covalent modifications, in terms of attachment sites and stoichiometry. We have previously developed a protocol which identifies genuine constituents of partially purified protein complexes and concurrently determines their phosphorylation sites and levels in a single LC-MS/MS analysis performed on a MALDI-TOF/TOF instrument (Pflieger, D.; Junger, M. A.; Muller, M.; Rinner, O.; Lee, H.; Gehrig, P. M.; Gstaiger, M.; Aebersold, R. Mol. Cell. Proteomics 2008 , 7 , 326 - 346). The method combines fourplex iTRAQ labeling (isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification) and phosphatase treatment of peptide samples derived from the tryptic digestion of isolated complexes. To test the performances of this method with nanoESI and different peptide fragmentation modes, possibly better suited for the identification of phosphorylated sequences than MALDI-TOF/TOF-MS, we have implemented it on the nanoESI-LTQ-Orbitrap instrument. The model protein beta-casein was used to optimize the conditions with respect to sensitivity and quantitative accuracy: a combination of CID fragmentation in the linear ion trap and Higher energy Collision Dissociation (HCD) appeared optimal to obtain reliable and robust identification and quantification data. The optimized conditions were then applied to identify and estimate the respective levels of phosphorylation sites on the purified, autoactivated tyrosine kinase domain of Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 3 (FGFR3-KD) and to analyze complexes formed around the insulin receptor substrate homologue CHICO immunopurified from Drosophila melanogaster cells that were either stimulated with insulin or left untreated. These new analyses allowed us to improve the assignment of the phosphorylation sites of some peptides previously detected by MALDI-TOF/TOF analysis and to identify additional phosphorylated sequences in CHICO and in the insulin receptor.

Mapping Surface Accessibility of the C1r/C1s Tetramer by Chemical Modification and Mass Spectrometry Provides New Insights into Assembly of the Human C1 Complex

C1, the complex that triggers the classic pathway of complement, is a 790-kDa assembly resulting from association of a recognition protein C1q with a Ca2+-dependent tetramer comprising two copies of the proteases C1r and C1s. Early structural investigations have shown that the extended C1s-C1r-C1r-C1s tetramer folds into a compact conformation in C1. Recent site-directed mutagenesis studies have identified the C1q-binding sites in C1r and C1s and led to a three-dimensional model of the C1 complex (Bally, I., Rossi, V., Lunardi, T., Thielens, N. M., Gaboriaud, C., and Arlaud, G. J. (2009) J. Biol. Chem. 284, 19340–19348). In this study, we have used a mass spectrometry-based strategy involving a label-free semi-quantitative analysis of protein samples to gain new structural insights into C1 assembly. Using a stable chemical modification, we have compared the accessibility of the lysine residues in the isolated tetramer and in C1. The labeling data account for 51 of the 73 lysine residues of C1r and C1s. They strongly support the hypothesis that both C1s CUB1-EGF-CUB2 interaction domains, which are distant in the free tetramer, associate with each other in the C1 complex. This analysis also provides the first experimental evidence that, in the proenzyme form of C1, the C1s serine protease domain is partly positioned inside the C1q cone and yields precise information about its orientation in the complex. These results provide further structural insights into the architecture of the C1 complex, allowing significant improvement of our current C1 model.

Isolation and characterization of plant protein complexes by mass spectrometry.

The components that enable cells and organisms to fulfill a plethora of chemical and physical reactions, including their ability to metabolize, replicate, repair and communicate with their environment are mostly based on the functioning of highly complex cellular machines which are to a large extent composed of proteins. With the development of MS techniques compatible with the analysis of minute amounts of biological material, it has become more and more feasible to dissect the composition and modification of these protein machineries. Indeed, new purification methods of protein complexes followed by MS analysis together with the genomic sequencing of various organisms – and in particular of crop species – now provide unforeseen insight to understand biological processes at a molecular level. We here review the current state of the art of in vivo protein complex isolation and their MS‐based analytical characterization, emphasizing on the tandem affinity purification approach.

Phosphorylation‐dependent regulation of plant chromatin and chromatin‐associated proteins

In eukaryotes, most of the DNA is located in the nucleus where it is organized with histone proteins in a higher order structure as chromatin. Chromatin and chromatin‐associated proteins contribute to DNA‐related processes such as replication and transcription as well as epigenetic regulation. Protein functions are often regulated by PTMs among which phosphorylation is one of the most abundant PTM. Phosphorylation of proteins affects important properties, such as enzyme activity, protein stability, or subcellular localization. We here describe the main specificities of protein phosphorylation in plants and review the current knowledge on phosphorylation‐dependent regulation of plant chromatin and chromatin‐associated proteins. We also outline some future challenges to further elucidate protein phosphorylation and chromatin regulation.

Identification of Novel PAMP-Triggered Phosphorylation and Dephosphorylation Events in Arabidopsis thaliana by Quantitative Phosphoproteomic Analysis

Signaling cascades rely strongly on protein kinase-mediated substrate phosphorylation. Currently a major challenge in signal transduction research is to obtain high confidence substrate phosphorylation sites and assign them to specific kinases. In response to bacterial flagellin, a pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP), we searched for rapidly phosphorylated proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana by combining multistage activation (MSA) and electron transfer dissociation (ETD) fragmentation modes, which generate complementary spectra and identify phosphopeptide sites with increased reliability. Of a total of 825 phosphopeptides, we identified 58 to be differentially phosphorylated. These peptides harbor kinase motifs of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs), as well as yet unknown protein kinases. Importantly, 12 of the phosphopeptides show reduced phosphorylation upon flagellin treatment. Since protein abundance levels did not change, these results indicate that flagellin induces not only various protein kinases but also protein phosphatases, even though a scenario of inhibited kinase activity may also be possible.