Rapid Identification of Fluorochrome Modification Sites in Proteins by LC ESI-Q-TOF Mass Spectrometry

Conjugation of either a fluorescent dye or a drug molecule to the ε-amino groups of lysine residues of proteins has many applications in biology and medicine. However, this type of conjugation produces a heterogeneous population of protein conjugates. Because conjugation of fluorochrome or drug molecule to a protein may have deleterious effects on protein function, the identification of conjugation sites is necessary. Unfortunately, the identification process can be time-consuming and laborious; therefore, there is a need to develop a rapid and reliable way to determine the conjugation sites of the fluorescent label or drug molecule. In this study, the sites of conjugation of fluorescein-5′-isothiocyanate and rhodamine-B-isothiocyanate to free amino groups on the insert-domain (I-domain) protein derived from the α-subunit of lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) were determined by electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ESI-Q-TOF MS) along with peptide mapping using trypsin digestion. A reporter fragment of the fluorochrome moiety that is generated in the collision cell of the Q-TOF without explicit MS/MS precursor selection was used to identify the conjugation site. Selected ion plots of the reporter ion readily mark modified peptides in chromatograms of the complex digest. Interrogation of theses spectra reveals a neutral loss/precursor pair that identifies the modified peptide. The results show that one to seven fluorescein molecules or one to four rhodamine molecules were attached to the lysine residue(s) of the I-domain protein. No modifications were found in the metal ion-dependent adhesion site (MIDAS), which is an important binding region of the I-domain

Stone Age Yersinia pestis genomes shed light on the early evolution, diversity, and ecology of plague

The bacterial pathogenYersinia pestisgave rise to devastating outbreaks throughouthuman history, and ancient DNA evidence has shown it afflicted human populations asfar back as the Neolithic.Y. pestisgenomes recovered from the Eurasian Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age (LNBA) period have uncovered key evolutionary steps that led to itsemergence from aYersinia pseudotuberculosis-like progenitor; however, the number ofreconstructed LNBA genomes are too few to explore its diversity during this criticalperiod of development. Here, we present 17Y. pestisgenomes dating to 5,000 to 2,500y BP from a wide geographic expanse across Eurasia. This increased dataset enabled usto explore correlations between temporal, geographical, and genetic distance. Ourresults suggest a nonflea-adapted and potentially extinct single lineage that persistedover millennia without significant parallel diversification, accompanied by rapid dis-persal across continents throughout this period, a trend not observed in other pathogensfor which ancient genomes are available. A stepwise pattern of gene loss provides fur-ther clues on its early evolution and potential adaptation. We also discover the presenceof theflea-adapted form ofY. pestisin Bronze Age Iberia, previously only identified inin the Caucasus and the Volga regions, suggesting a much wider geographic spread ofthis form ofY. pestis. Together, these data reveal the dynamic nature of plague’s forma-tive years in terms of its early evolution and ecology

The Anglo-Saxon migration and the formation of the early English gene pool

The history of the British Isles and Ireland is characterized by multiple periods of major cultural change, including the influential transformation after the end of Roman rule, which precipitated shifts in language, settlement patterns and material culture1. The extent to which migration from continental Europe mediated these transitions is a matter of long-standing debate2–4. Here we study genome-wide ancient DNA from 460 medieval northwestern Europeans—including 278 individuals from England—alongside archaeological data, to infer contemporary population dynamics. We identify a substantial increase of continental northern European ancestry in early medieval England, which is closely related to the early medieval and present-day inhabitants of Germany and Denmark, implying large-scale substantial migration across the North Sea into Britain during the Early Middle Ages. As a result, the individuals who we analysed from eastern England derived up to 76% of their ancestry from the continental North Sea zone, albeit with substantial regional variation and heterogeneity within sites. We show that women with immigrant ancestry were more often furnished with grave goods than women with local ancestry, whereas men with weapons were as likely not to be of immigrant ancestry. A comparison with present- day Britain indicates that subsequent demographic events reduced the fraction of continental northern European ancestry while introducing further ancestry components into the English gene pool, including substantial southwestern European ancestry most closely related to that seen in Iron Age Franc

High-Affinity Capture of Proteins by Diamond Nanoparticles for Mass Spectrometric Analysis

Carboxylated/oxidized diamond nanoparticles (nominal size 100 nm) exhibit exceptionally high affinity for proteins through both hydrophilic and hydrophobic forces. The affinity is so high that proteins in dilute solution can be easily captured by diamonds, simply separated by centrifugation, and directly analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry (MS). No preseparation of the adsorbed molecules from diamonds is required for the mass spectrometric analysis. Compared to conventional MALDI-TOF-MS, an enhancement in detection sensitivity by more than 2 orders of magnitude is achieved for dilute solution containing cytochrome c, myoglobin, and albumin because of preconcentration of the probed molecules. The lowest concentration detectable is 100 pM for a 1-mL solution. Aside from the enhanced sensitivity, the overall performance of this technique does not show any sign of deterioration for highly contaminated protein solutions, and furthermore, no significant peak broadening and band shift were observed in the mass spectra. The promise of this new method for clinical proteomics research is demonstrated with an application to human blood serum. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) 1 time-offlight (TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) is a mainstream tool in current high-throughput mass analysis of biopolymers. 2 The MALDI technique, however, suffers from the shortcoming that it lacks sample specificity and its performance deteriorates markedly for samples containing multiple components and excessive amounts of salts or surfactants. 3 Surface-enhanced laser desorption/ ionization (SELDI) is one of the techniques 4-10 developed to circumvent these problems. In this method, 4 micrometer-sized (typically 80-300 µm in diameter) agarose beads made for affinity chromatography columns were used to capture proteins of interest in crude sample solutions. The microbeads were then recovered, washed, placed on the LDI probe tip, and analyzed with regular MALDI-TOF-MS. Unfortunately, direct analysis of the surfacebound proteins is often accompanied with undesired decrease in mass resolution as well as mass accuracy ascribed to the interference from the beads in ion formation and extraction. One solution to this problem is to directly immobilize proteins onto the surface of the LDI probe without use of the microbeads. 7 The approach again suffers from the shortcoming that the number of binding sites is quite limited, ∼1 × 10 13 molecules/cm 2 or ∼160 fmol/mm 2 for a single layer of proteins on the probe surface. The obstacle was later removed by immobilization of the proteins to high molecular weight dextrans precoated covalently on the LDI probe. 8 An approximate 500 times more sample could be loaded, although the dextran immobilization process is rather timeconsuming. We have previously shown 11 that diamond is an exceptional platform for protein adsorption and immobilization. The optical transparency, chemical inertness, and biological compatibility of the material endow diamond nanoparticles with novel and promising biotechnological applications. Preliminary tests with cytochrome c physisorbed to carboxylated/oxidized diamond particles of 5 and 100 nm in size indicate that the specially prepared diamond surfaces exhibit remarkably high affinity for proteins containing amino acid residues with basic side chains. This unique feature along with the fact that diamond is optically transparent up to the UV region motivated us to explore the possibility of using diamond nanoparticles for SELDI-TOF-MS. The advantage of using nanoparticles over microbeads is manyfold. First, nanoparticles have a much larger surface area-to-mass ratio, nearly 3 orders of magnitude higher than that of microbeads; second, the extent to which nanoparticles interfere with the laser desorption/ ionization process is diminished because of the smallness of the particles; third, nanoparticles can be embedded more firmly in the LDI matrix crystals than microbeads, thereby reducing material loss during sample preparation and analysis. There have been several applications of metallic, semiconducting as well as polymeric nanoparticles for mass spectrometric analysis of biopoly