Kebing Yu

A New Approach for Quantitative Phosphoproteomic Dissection of Signaling Pathways Applied to T Cell Receptor Activation

Reversible protein phosphorylation plays a pivotal role in the regulation of cellular signaling pathways. Current approaches in phosphoproteomics focus on analysis of the global phosphoproteome in a single cellular state or of receptor stimulation time course experiments, often with a restricted number of time points. Although these studies have provided some insights into newly discovered phosphorylation sites that may be involved in pathways, they alone do not provide enough information to make precise predictions of the placement of individual phosphorylation events within a signaling pathway. Protein disruption and site-directed mutagenesis are essential to clearly define the precise biological roles of the hundreds of newly discovered phosphorylation sites uncovered in modern proteomics experiments. We have combined genetic analysis with quantitative proteomic methods and recently developed visual analysis tools to dissect the tyrosine phosphoproteome of isogenic Zap-70 tyrosine kinase null and reconstituted Jurkat T cells. In our approach, label-free quantitation using normalization to copurified phosphopeptide standards is applied to assemble high density temporal data within a single cell type, either Zap-70 null or reconstituted cells, providing a list of candidate phosphorylation sites that change in abundance after T cell stimulation. Stable isotopic labeling of amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) ratios are then used to compare Zap-70 null and reconstituted cells across a time course of receptor stimulation, providing direct information about the placement of newly observed phosphorylation sites relative to Zap-70. These methods are adaptable to any cell culture signaling system in which isogenic wild type and mutant cells have been or can be derived using any available phosphopeptide enrichment strategy.

Mammalian liver cytochrome c is tyrosine-48 phosphorylated in vivo, inhibiting mitochondrial respiration.

Cytochrome c (Cyt c) is part of the mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC), accepting electrons from bc(1) complex and transferring them to cytochrome c oxidase (CcO). The ETC generates the mitochondrial membrane potential, which is used by ATP synthase to produce ATP. In addition, the release of Cyt c from the mitochondria often commits a cell to undergo apoptosis. Considering its central role in life (respiration) and death (apoptosis) decisions one would expect tight regulation of Cyt c function. Reversible phosphorylation is a main cellular regulatory mechanism, but the effect of cell signaling targeting the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation system is not well understood, and only a small number of proteins that can be phosphorylated have been identified to date. We have recently shown that Cyt c isolated from cow heart tissue is phosphorylated on tyrosine 97 in vivo, which leads to inhibition of respiration in the reaction with CcO. In this study we isolated Cyt c from a different organ, cow liver, under conditions preserving the physiological phosphorylation state. Western analysis with a phosphotyrosine specific antibody suggested that liver Cyt c is phosphorylated. Surprisingly, the phosphorylation site was unambiguously assigned to Tyr-48 by immobilized metal affinity chromatography/nano-liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (IMAC/nano-LC/ESI-MS), and not to the previously identified phospho-Tyr-97 in cow heart. As is true of Tyr-97, Tyr-48 is conserved in eukaryotes. As one possible consequence of Tyr-48 phosphorylation we analyzed the in vitro reaction kinetics with isolated cow liver CcO revealing striking differences. Maximal turnover of Tyr-48 phosphorylated Cyt c was 3.7 s(-1) whereas dephosphorylation resulted in a 2.2 fold increase in activity to 8.2 s(-1). Effects of Tyr-48 phosphorylation based on the Cyt c crystal structure are discussed.

Quantitative Time-Resolved Phosphoproteomic Analysis of Mast Cell Signaling

Mast cells play a central role in type I hypersensitivity reactions and allergic disorders such as anaphylaxis and asthma. Activation of mast cells, through a cascade of phosphorylation events, leads to the release of mediators of the early phase allergic response. Understanding the molecular architecture underlying mast cell signaling may provide possibilities for therapeutic intervention in asthma and other allergic diseases. Although many details of mast cell signaling have been described previously, a systematic, quantitative analysis of the global tyrosine phosphorylation events that are triggered by activation of the mast cell receptor is lacking. In many cases, the involvement of particular proteins in mast cell signaling has been established generally, but the precise molecular mechanism of the interaction between known signaling proteins often mediated through phosphorylation is still obscure. Using recently advanced methodologies in mass spectrometry, including automation of phosphopeptide enrichments and detection, we have now substantially characterized, with temporal resolution as short as 10 s, the sites and levels of tyrosine phosphorylation across 10 min of FcεRI-induced mast cell activation. These results reveal a far more extensive array of tyrosine phosphorylation events than previously known, including novel phosphorylation sites on canonical mast cell signaling molecules, as well as unexpected pathway components downstream of FcεRI activation. Furthermore, our results, for the first time in mast cells, reveal the sequence of phosphorylation events for 171 modification sites across 121 proteins in the MCP5 mouse mast cell line and 179 modification sites on 117 proteins in mouse bone marrow-derived mast cells.

Phosphoproteomic profiling of in vivo signaling in liver by the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1).

Background Our understanding of signal transduction networks in the physiological context of an organism remains limited, partly due to the technical challenge of identifying serine/threonine phosphorylated peptides from complex tissue samples. In the present study, we focused on signaling through the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) complex 1 (mTORC1), which is at the center of a nutrient- and growth factor-responsive cell signaling network. Though studied extensively, the mechanisms involved in many mTORC1 biological functions remain poorly understood. Methodology/Principal Findings We developed a phosphoproteomic strategy to purify, enrich and identify phosphopeptides from rat liver homogenates. Using the anticancer drug rapamycin, the only known target of which is mTORC1, we characterized signaling in liver from rats in which the complex was maximally activated by refeeding following 48 hr of starvation. Using protein and peptide fractionation methods, TiO2 affinity purification of phosphopeptides and mass spectrometry, we reproducibly identified and quantified over four thousand phosphopeptides. Along with 5 known rapamycin-sensitive phosphorylation events, we identified 62 new rapamycin-responsive candidate phosphorylation sites. Among these were PRAS40, gephyrin, and AMP kinase 2. We observed similar proportions of increased and reduced phosphorylation in response to rapamycin. Gene ontology analysis revealed over-representation of mTOR pathway components among rapamycin-sensitive phosphopeptide candidates. Conclusions/Significance In addition to identifying potential new mTORC1-mediated phosphorylation events, and providing information relevant to the biology of this signaling network, our experimental and analytical approaches indicate the feasibility of large-scale phosphoproteomic profiling of tissue samples to study physiological signaling events in vivo.

Proteomic profiling of Myc-associated proteins

Mammalian c-Myc is a member of a small family of three closely related transcription factors. The Myc family of proto-oncogenes are among the most potent activators of tumorigenesis, and are frequently overexpressed in diverse cancers. c-Myc has an unusually broad array of regulatory functions, which include, in addition to roles in the cell cycle and apoptosis, effects on a variety of metabolic functions, cell differentiation, senescence, and stem cell maintenance. A significant number of c-Myc interacting proteins have already been defined, but it is widely believed that the c-Myc interactome is vastly larger than currently documented. In addition to interactions with components of the transcription machinery, transcription independent nuclear interactions with the DNA replication and RNA processing pathways have been reported. Cytoplasmic roles of c-Myc have also been recently substantiated. Recent advances in proteomics have opened new possibilities for the isolation of protein complexes under native conditions and confidently identifying the components using ultrasensitive, high mass accuracy and high resolution mass spectrometry techniques. In this communication we report a new tandem affinity purification (TAP) c-Myc interaction screen that employed new cell lines with near-physiological levels of c-Myc expression with multi-dimensional protein identification techniques (MudPIT) for the detection and quantification of proteins. Both label-free and the recently developed stable isotope labeling with amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) methodologies were used. Combined data from multiple biological replicates provided a dataset of 418 non-redundant proteins, 389 of which are putative novel interactors. This new information should significantly advance our understanding of this interesting and important master regulator.

Chapter 11 Isolation of Regulatory‐Competent, Phosphorylated Cytochrome c Oxidase

The role of posttranslational modifications, specifically reversible phosphorylation as a regulatory mechanism operating in the mitochondria, is a novel research direction. The mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation system is a particularly interesting unit because it is responsible for the production of the vast majority of cellular energy in addition to free radicals, two factors that are aberrant in numerous human diseases and that may be influenced by reversible phosphorylation of the oxidative phosphorylation complexes. We here describe a detailed protocol for the isolation of mammalian liver and heart mitochondria and subsequently cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) under conditions maintaining the physiological phosphorylation state. The protocol employs the use of activated vanadate, an unspecific tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor, fluoride, an unspecific serine/threonine phosphatase inhibitor, and EGTA, a calcium chelator to prevent the activation of calcium-dependent protein phosphatases. CcO purified without manipulation of signaling pathways shows strong tyrosine phosphorylation on subunits II and IV, whereas tyrosine phosphorylation of subunit I can be induced by the cAMP- and TNFalpha-dependent pathways in liver. Using our protocol on cow liver tissue we further show the identification of a new phosphorylation site on CcO subunit IV tyrosine 11 of the mature protein (corresponding to tyrosine 33 of the precursor peptide) via immobilized metal affinity chromatography/nano-liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (IMAC/nano-LC/ESI-MS). This phosphorylation site is located close to the ATP and ADP binding site, which adjusts CcO activity to cellular energy demand, and we propose that phosphorylation of tyrosine 11 enables allosteric regulation.

PeptideDepot: Flexible relational database for visual analysis of quantitative proteomic data and integration of existing protein information

Recently, dramatic progress has been achieved in expanding the sensitivity, resolution, mass accuracy, and scan rate of mass spectrometers able to fragment and identify peptides through MS/MS. Unfortunately, this enhanced ability to acquire proteomic data has not been accompanied by a concomitant increase in the availability of flexible tools allowing users to rapidly assimilate, explore, and analyze this data and adapt to various experimental workflows with minimal user intervention. Here we fill this critical gap by providing a flexible relational database called PeptideDepot for organization of expansive proteomic data sets, collation of proteomic data with available protein information resources, and visual comparison of multiple quantitative proteomic experiments. Our software design, built upon the synergistic combination of a MySQL database for safe warehousing of proteomic data with a FileMaker‐driven graphical user interface for flexible adaptation to diverse workflows, enables proteomic end‐users to directly tailor the presentation of proteomic data to the unique analysis requirements of the individual proteomics lab. PeptideDepot may be deployed as an independent software tool or integrated directly with our high throughput autonomous proteomic pipeline used in the automated acquisition and post‐acquisition analysis of proteomic data.

Integrated platform for manual and high‐throughput statistical validation of tandem mass spectra

As proteomic data sets increase in size and complexity, the necessity for database‐centric software systems able to organize, compare, and visualize all the proteomic experiments in a lab grows. We recently developed an integrated platform called high‐throughput autonomous proteomic pipeline (HTAPP) for the automated acquisition and processing of quantitative proteomic data, and integration of proteomic results with existing external protein information resources within a lab‐based relational database called PeptideDepot. Here, we introduce the peptide validation software component of this system, which combines relational database‐integrated electronic manual spectral annotation in Java with a new software tool in the R programming language for the generation of logistic regression spectral models from user‐supplied validated data sets and flexible application of these user‐generated models in automated proteomic workflows. This logistic regression spectral model uses both variables computed directly from SEQUEST output in addition to deterministic variables based on expert manual validation criteria of spectral quality. In the case of linear quadrupole ion trap (LTQ) or LTQ‐FTICR LC/MS data, our logistic spectral model outperformed both XCorr (242% more peptides identified on average) and the X!Tandem E‐value (87% more peptides identified on average) at a 1% false discovery rate estimated by decoy database approach.

Lectin site ligation of CR3 induces conformational changes and signaling

Background: CR3 is a β2 integrin that contains a lectin-like domain that binds the fungal pathogen-associated molecular pattern β-glucan. Results: Soluble β-glucan stabilizes an intermediate CR3 conformation that induces differential intracellular phosphorylation. Conclusion: CR3 is a signaling pattern recognition receptor for β-glucan. Significance: The CR3 receptor is a target for the design of novel immune modulators. Neutrophils provide an innate immune response to tissues infected with fungal pathogens such as Candida albicans. This response is tightly regulated in part through the interaction of integrins with extracellular matrix ligands that are distributed within infected tissues. The β2 integrin, CR3 (CD11b/CD18), is unique among integrins in containing a lectin-like domain that binds the fungal pathogen-associated molecular pattern β-glucan and serves as the dominant receptor for recognition of fungal pathogens by human granulocytes. β-Glucan, when isolated in soluble form, has been shown to be a safe and effective immune potentiator when administered therapeutically. Currently a pharmaceutical grade preparation of β-glucan is in several clinical trials with an anti-cancer indication. CR3 binding of extracellular matrix, carbohydrate, or both ligands simultaneously differentially regulates neutrophil function through a mechanism not clearly understood. Using FRET reporters, we interrogated the effects of soluble β-glucan on intracellular and extracellular CR3 structure. Although the canonical CR3 ligand fibrinogen induced full activation, β-glucan alone or in conjunction with fibrinogen stabilized an intermediate conformation with moderate headpiece extension and full cytoplasmic tail separation. A set of phosphopeptides differentially regulated by β-glucan in a CR3-dependent manner were identified using functional proteomics and found to be enriched for signaling molecules and proteins involved in transcriptional regulation, mRNA processing, and alternative splicing. These data confirm that CR3 is a signaling pattern recognition receptor for β-glucan and represent the first direct evidence of soluble β-glucan binding and affecting a signaling-competent intermediate CR3 conformation on living cells.

Cytochrome c is tyrosine 97 phosphorylated by neuroprotective insulin treatment

Recent advancements in isolation techniques for cytochrome c (Cytc) have allowed us to discover post-translational modifications of this protein. We previously identified two distinct tyrosine phosphorylated residues on Cytc in mammalian liver and heart that alter its electron transfer kinetics and the ability to induce apoptosis. Here we investigated the phosphorylation status of Cytc in ischemic brain and sought to determine if insulin-induced neuroprotection and inhibition of Cytc release was associated with phosphorylation of Cytc. Using an animal model of global brain ischemia, we found a ∼50% decrease in neuronal death in the CA1 hippocampal region with post-ischemic insulin administration. This insulin-mediated increase in neuronal survival was associated with inhibition of Cytc release at 24 hours of reperfusion. To investigate possible changes in the phosphorylation state of Cytc we first isolated the protein from ischemic pig brain and brain that was treated with insulin. Ischemic brains demonstrated no detectable tyrosine phosphorylation. In contrast Cytc isolated from brains treated with insulin showed robust phosphorylation of Cytc, and the phosphorylation site was unambiguously identified as Tyr97 by immobilized metal affinity chromatography/nano-liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. We next confirmed these results in rats by in vivo application of insulin in the absence or presence of global brain ischemia and determined that Cytc Tyr97-phosphorylation is strongly induced under both conditions but cannot be detected in untreated controls. These data suggest a mechanism whereby Cytc is targeted for phosphorylation by insulin signaling, which may prevent its release from the mitochondria and the induction of apoptosis.