M. Cristine Charlesworth

Characterization of PKD Protein-Positive Exosome-Like Vesicles

Proteins associated with autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (polycystin-1, polycystin-2, and fibrocystin) localize to various subcellular compartments, but their functional site is thought to be on primary cilia. PC1+ vesicles surround cilia in Pkhd1(del2/del2) mice, which led us to analyze these structures in detail. We subfractionated urinary exosome-like vesicles (ELVs) and isolated a subpopulation abundant in polycystin-1, fibrocystin (in their cleaved forms), and polycystin-2. This removed Tamm-Horsfall protein, the major contaminant, and subfractionated ELVs into at least three different populations, demarcated by the presence of aquaporin-2, polycystin-1, and podocin. Proteomic analysis of PKD ELVs identified 552 proteins (232 not yet in urinary proteomic databases), many of which have been implicated in signaling, including the molecule Smoothened. We also detected two other protein products of genes involved in cystic disease: Cystin, the product of the mouse cpk locus, and ADP-ribosylation factor-like 6, the product of the human Bardet-Biedl syndrome gene (BBS3). Our proteomic analysis confirmed that cleavage of polycystin-1 and fibrocystin occurs in vivo, in manners consistent with cleavage at the GPS site in polycystin-1 and the proprotein convertase site in fibrocystin. In vitro, these PKD ELVs preferentially interacted with primary cilia of kidney and biliary epithelial cells in a rapid and highly specific manner. These data suggest that PKD proteins are shed in membrane particles in the urine, and these particles interact with primary cilia.

Detection of a prostate-specific protein, human glandular kallikrein (hK2), in sera of patients with elevated prostate-specific antigen levels

OBJECTIVES Messenger ribonucleic acid for human glandular kallikrein (hK2), a protein similar to prostate-specific antigen (PSA), is expressed in the prostate. Quantitative tests for the relative amounts of PSA in serum have become important in the diagnosis and management of patients with prostate cancer. Measurement of hK2 in serum may also serve as a diagnostic indicator of disease. The object of this study was to determine if hK2 is present in the serum of patients with high serum concentrations of PSA. METHODS Recombinant prohK2 with an alanine to valine mutation at aa217 (phK2v217) was expressed in a hamster tumor cell line, AV12. The propeptide was treated with trypsin to yield the mature form of hK2 (hK2v217). Using a monoclonal antibody, HK1G586.1, which recognized wild type and mutant forms of pro- and mature hK2, an hK2-specific radioimmunoassay was developed. RESULTS PSA cross-reactivity in the radioimmunoassay (RIA) was 0.23%. hK2 was detected in the sera of 51 of 76 patients with PSA levels above 100 ng/mL. The dose-response curve of hK2-positive samples was linear, and recovery of phK2v217-spiked serum samples was close to 100%. The correlation between PSA and hK2 values in the patient sera was low (r = 0.168). CONCLUSIONS Given the importance of the role of PSA as a serologic indicator of prostate cancer, the demonstration that hK2 is also circulating in the blood of patients in different relative proportions to PSA suggests that it may be a significant novel marker for prostate cancer.

RECOGNITION OF FUNGAL PROTEASE ACTIVITIES INDUCES CELLULAR ACTIVATION AND EOSINOPHIL-DERIVED NEUROTOXIN RELEASE IN HUMAN EOSINOPHILS

Eosinophils are multifunctional leukocytes implicated in the pathogenesis of asthma and in immunity to certain organisms. Associations between exposure to an environmental fungus, such as Alternaria, and asthma have been recognized clinically. Protease-activated receptors (PARs) are G protein-coupled receptors that are cleaved and activated by serine proteases, but their roles in innate immunity remain unknown. We previously found that human eosinophils respond vigorously to Alternaria organisms and to the secretory product(s) of Alternaria with eosinophils releasing their proinflammatory mediators. In this study, we investigated the roles of protease(s) produced by Alternaria and of PARs expressed on eosinophils in their immune responses against fungal organisms. We found that Alternaria alternata produces aspartate protease(s) and that human peripheral blood eosinophils degranulate in response to the cell-free extract of A. alternata. Eosinophils showed an increased intracellular calcium concentration in response to Alternaria that was desensitized by peptide and protease ligands for PAR-2 and inhibited by a PAR-2 antagonistic peptide. Alternaria-derived aspartate protease(s) cleaved PAR-2 to expose neo-ligands; these neo-ligands activated eosinophil degranulation in the absence of proteases. Finally, treatment of Alternaria extract with aspartate protease inhibitors, which are conventionally used for HIV-1 and other microbes, attenuated the eosinophils’ responses to Alternaria. Thus, fungal aspartate protease and eosinophil PAR-2 appear critical for the eosinophils’ innate immune response to certain fungi, suggesting a novel mechanism for pathologic inflammation in asthma and for host-pathogen interaction.

Subfractionation, characterization, and in-depth proteomic analysis of glomerular membrane vesicles in human urine.

Urinary exosome-like vesicles (ELVs) are a heterogenous mixture (diameter 40–200nm) containing vesicles shed from all segments of the nephron including glomerular podocytes. Contamination with Tamm Horsfall protein (THP) oligomers has hampered their isolation and proteomic analysis. Here we improved ELV isolation protocols employing density centrifugation to remove THP and albumin, and isolated a glomerular membranous vesicle (GMV) enriched subfraction from 7 individuals identifying 1830 proteins and in 3 patients with glomerular disease identifying 5657 unique proteins. The GMV fraction was composed of podocin/podocalyxin positive irregularly shaped membranous vesicles and podocin/podocalyxin negative classical exosomes. Ingenuity pathway analysis identified integrin, actin cytoskeleton and RhoGDI signaling in the top three canonical represented signaling pathways and 19 other proteins associated with inherited glomerular diseases. The GMVs are of podocyte origin and the density gradient technique allowed isolation in a reproducible manner. We show many nephrotic syndrome proteins, proteases and complement proteins involved in glomerular disease are in GMVs and some were shed in the disease state (nephrin, TRPC6 and INF2 and PLA2R). We calculated sample sizes required to identify new glomerular disease biomarkers, expand the ELV proteome and provide a reference proteome in a database that may prove useful in the search for biomarkers of glomerular disease.

Identification of Biomarkers for PKD1 Using Urinary Exosomes

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is a common cause of ESRD. Affected individuals inherit a defective copy of either PKD1 or PKD2, which encode polycystin-1 (PC1) or polycystin-2 (PC2), respectively. PC1 and PC2 are secreted on urinary exosome-like vesicles (ELVs) (100-nm diameter vesicles), in which PC1 is present in a cleaved form and may be complexed with PC2. Here, label-free quantitative proteomic studies of urine ELVs in an initial discovery cohort (13 individuals with PKD1 mutations and 18 normal controls) revealed that of 2008 ELV proteins, 9 (0.32%) were expressed at significantly different levels in samples from individuals with PKD1 mutations compared to controls (P<0.03). In samples from individuals with PKD1 mutations, levels of PC1 and PC2 were reduced to 54% (P<0.02) and 53% (P<0.001), respectively. Transmembrane protein 2 (TMEM2), a protein with homology to fibrocystin, was 2.1-fold higher in individuals with PKD1 mutations (P<0.03). The PC1/TMEM2 ratio correlated inversely with height-adjusted total kidney volume in the discovery cohort, and the ratio of PC1/TMEM2 or PC2/TMEM2 could be used to distinguish individuals with PKD1 mutations from controls in a confirmation cohort. In summary, results of this study suggest that a test measuring the urine exosomal PC1/TMEM2 or PC2/TMEM2 ratio may have utility in diagnosis and monitoring of polycystic kidney disease. Future studies will focus on increasing sample size and confirming these studies. The data were deposited in the ProteomeXchange (identifier PXD001075).

Elevated levels of phosphorylated fibrinogen-α-isoforms and differential expression of other post-translationally modified proteins in the plasma of ovarian cancer patients

We evaluated the differentially expressed proteins in the plasma of ovarian cancer (OVC) patients using 2-D SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) with post-translational modification (PTM) specific stains after the removal of six high-abundance proteins. The pooled plasma from patients with stage III or IV OVC was compared to a pooled postmenopausal age-matched control. Several proteins were identified as differentially expressed in the plasma of OVC patients. Among them, the phosphorylated fibrinogen-alpha-chain isoform (containing fibrinopeptide-A) was found to be up-regulated. Previously in our laboratory, phosphorylated fibrinopeptide-A was found to be up-regulated in the low molecular weight fraction of serum derived from OVC patients. We examined the levels of phosphorylated fibrinogen-alpha-chain in each patient that constituted the pooled plasma using Western blot, mass spectrometry (MS), and PTM specific stains. Phosphoprotein bands containing fibrinogen-alpha-chain fragments showed up-regulation in all OVC patients.

Differences in Immunoglobulin Light Chain Species Found in Urinary Exosomes in Light Chain Amyloidosis (AL)

Renal involvement is a frequent consequence of plasma cell dyscrasias. The most common entities are light chain amyloidosis, monoclonal immunoglobulin deposition disease and myeloma cast nephropathy. Despite a common origin, each condition has its own unique histologic and pathophysiologic characteristic which requires a renal biopsy to distinguish. Recent studies have shown urinary exosomes containing kidney-derived membrane and cytosolic proteins that can be used to probe the proteomics of the entire urinary system from the glomerulus to the bladder. In this study, we analyzed urine exosomes to determine the differences between exosomes from patients with light chain amyloidosis, multiple myeloma, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, and non-paraproteinemia related kidney disease controls. In patients with light chain amyloidosis, multiple myeloma and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, immunoreactive proteins corresponding to monomeric light chains were found in exosomes by western blot. In all of the amyloidosis samples with active disease, high molecular weight immunoreactive species corresponding to a decamer were found which were not found in exosomes from the other diseases or in amyloidosis exosomes from patients in remission. Few or no light chains monomeric bands were found in non-paraproteinemia related kidney disease controls. Our results showed that urinary exosomes may have tremendous potential in furthering our understanding of the pathophysiology and diagnosis of plasma cell dyscrasia related kidney diseases.

Autoimmunoreactive IgGs against cardiac lipid raft-associated proteins in patients with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome

Lipid rafts are specialized plasma membrane microdomains that serve as platforms for integrating cellular signal transductions. We have recently reported that autoantibodies against cardiac membrane proteins are present in patients with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). In this study, we examined the presence of autoimmunoreactive IgGs against lipid raft proteins in these patients. IgGs were purified from the sera of 10 patients and 7 normal controls. Cardiac lipid raft preparations were isolated from normal human heart tissue. The lipid raft-associated proteins were resolved by 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis and immunoblotted against IgGs from each subject. Protein spots that reacted specifically with patient IgGs were identified by nano-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry. Thirty-four such protein spots, and 72 unique proteins were identified. The targets of autoimmunoreactive IgGs include proteins associated with caveolae structure, adrenergic signaling, calcium signaling, cytostructures, chaperone and energy metabolism. Multiple pathways were involved including those that regulate caveolae-mediated signaling, oxidative phosphorylation, fatty acid metabolism, protein ubiquitination, and cardiac β-adrenergic signaling. Our results suggest that cardiac lipid raft-associated proteins are targets of autoimmunoreactive IgGs from patients with POTS. Autoimmunity may play a role in the pathogenesis of POTS.

Autoimmunoreactive IgGs from patients with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome

Autoantibodies are implicated in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases and cardiac arrhythmias. In this pilot study, we tested the hypothesis that autoantibodies are present in patients with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).

Variability in protein quality used for embryo culture: embryotoxicity of the stabilizer octanoic acid.

OBJECTIVE To screen human serum albumin (HSA) preparations for toxicity and investigate causes of variation. DESIGN Experimental laboratory study. SETTING University-based laboratory. ANIMAL(S) FVB and CF1 mice crossed to create embryos used in experiments. INTERVENTION(S) Mouse embryo assay performed with 5% or 15% HSA (100 mg/mL albumin) from three samples from three separate manufacturers (A, B, C). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Blastocyst rates calculated at 96 hours of culture (experiments repeated in triplicate). RESULT(S) The HSA preparations were desalted to remove stabilizers added during HSA processing, then mass spectrometry was used to determine the relative variation in stabilizer concentrations; the effect of the stabilizer octanoic acid on embryo development was tested. At 5% HSA, all samples had blastocyst rates ≥ 70%; at 15% HSA, the blastocyst rates for samples B and C were <50%. Desalting did not affect sample B but did improve the blastocyst rates of sample C. Mass spectrometry revealed high levels of octanoic acid in sample C compared with sample A. The addition of octanoic acid to sample A produced toxicity similar to sample C. CONCLUSION(S) The stabilizer octanoic acid varies by lot and inhibits embryo development. Because octanoic acid is known to cause disruptions in mitochondrial bioenergetics, reduce intracellular pH, and induce oxidative damage in peripheral tissues, its use in embryo culture should be monitored and limited.