Monitoring conformational landscape of ovine prion protein monomer using ion mobility coupled to mass spectrometry

Prion protein is involved in deadly neurodegenerative diseases. Its pathogenicity is linked to its structural conversion (alpha-helix to beta-strand transition). However, recent studies suggest that prion protein can follow a plurality of conversion pathways, which hints towards different conformers that might coexist in solution. To gain insights on the plasticity of the ovine prion protein (PrP) monomer, wild type (A136, R154, Q171), mutants and deletions of ARQ were studied by traveling wave ion mobility experiments coupled to mass spectrometry. In order to perform the analysis of a large body of data sets, we designed and evaluated the performance of a processing pipeline based on Driftscope peak detection and a homemade script for automated peak assignment, annotation, and quantification on specific multiply charged protein data. Using this approach, we showed that in the gas phase, PrPs are represented by at least three conformer families differing in both charge state distribution and collisional cross-section, in agreement with the work of Hilton et al. (2010). We also showed that this plasticity is borne both by the N- and C-terminal domains. Effect of protein concentration, pH and temperature were also assessed, showing that (1) pH does not affect conformer distributions, (2) protein concentration modifies the conformational landscape of one mutant (I208M) only, and (3) heating leads to other unfolded species and to a modification of the conformer intensity ratios

Tethering of HP1 proteins to chromatin is relieved by phosphoacetylation of histone H3

Histone H3 lysine 9 methylation is associated with long-term transcriptional repression through recruitment of heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) proteins. These proteins are believed to promote the formation of dense chromatin structures interfering with DNA accessibility. During the G2 phase of the cell cycle, HP1 proteins are delocalized from foci of pericentromeric heterochromatin, while a wave of H3 serine 10 phosphorylation is initiated within these regions. Here, we show that in vivo phosphorylation of serine 10 in G2 can occur on histone tails methylated on lysine 9. Unexpectedly, this modification favours rather than prevents HP1 binding to chromatin. Dissociation of HP1 from the methylated histone H3 tails is observed only after a third modification by acetylation of lysine 14, which occurs in prophase. We propose that phosphoacetylation of histone H3 could be a general mechanism allowing the cell to overcome HP1-mediated transcriptional repression

Mass spectrometric analysis of the interactions between CP12, a chloroplast protein, and metal ions: a possible regulatory role within a PRK/GAPDH/CP12 complex

The small chloroplast protein CP12 plays the role of a protein linker in the assembly process of a PRK/GAPDH/CP12 complex that is involved in CO2 assimilation in photosynthetic organisms. The redox state of CP12 regulates its role as a protein linker. Only the oxidized protein, with two disulfide bonds, is active in complex formation. Several observations indicating that CP12 might bind a metal ion led us to screen the binding of different metal ions on oxidized or reduced CP12 using non-covalent electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) experiments. The oxidized protein bound specifically Cu2+ and Ni2+ (Kd of 26+/-1 microM and 11+/-1 microM, respectively); other cations such as Fe2+ and Zn2+ did not bind, while cations such as Cd2+ formed non-specific adducts to CP12. Similar results were obtained for metal ions on screening with the reduced CP12. Interestingly, the present results suggest that Cu2+ catalyzes the re-formation of the disulfide bonds of the reduced CP12, leading to recovery of the fully oxidized CP12 that is then able to bind a Cu2+ ion. Finally the high similarity between CP12 and copper chaperones from Arabidopsis thaliana, as judged by hydrophobic cluster analysis, provides additional evidence for the relevance of metal binding for the in vivo situation. The findings that CP12 is able to bind a metal ion, and that Cu2+ catalyzes the oxidation of the thiol groups of CP12, are new characteristics of this protein that may prove to be important in the regulation of the assembly process of the PRK/GAPDH/CP12 complex. Arnaud Delobel, Emmanuelle Graciet, Simona Andreescu, Brigitte Gontero, Frederic Halgand and Olivier Laprevot

Confident assignment of intact mass tags to human salivary cystatins using top-down Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry

International audienceA hybrid linear ion-trap Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer was used for top-down characterization of the abundant human salivary Cystatins, including S, S1, S2, SA, SN, C, and D, using collisionally activated dissociation (CAD) after chromatographic purification of the native, disulfide intact proteins from saliva. Post-translational modifications and protein sequence polymorphisms arising from single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were assigned from precursor and product ion masses at a tolerance of 10 ppm allowing confident identification of individual intact mass tags. Cystatins S, S1, S2, SA and SN were cleaved of a N-terminal 20 amino-acid signal peptide, and Cystatin C a 26-residue peptide, to yield a generally conserved N-terminus. In contrast, Cystatin D isoforms with 24 and 28 amino-acid residue N-terminal truncations were found such that their N-termini were not conserved. Cystatin S1 was phosphorylated at Ser3, while S2 was phosphorylated at Ser1 and Ser3 of the mature protein, in agreement with previous work. Both Cystatin D isoforms carried the polymorphism C46R (SNP: rs1799841). The 14328 Da isoform of Cystatin SN previously assigned with polymorphism P31L due to a SNP (rs2070856) was found only in whole saliva. Parotid secretions contained no detectable Cystatins while whole saliva largely mirrored the contents of submandibular/sublingual (SMSL) secretions. Top-down high-resolution mass spectrometry is a powerful tool for the identification and characterization of potential protein biomarkers in saliva

The smallest infectious substructure encoding the prion strain structural determinant revealed by spontaneous dissociation of misfolded prion protein assemblies

Abstract It is commonly accepted that the prion replicative propensity and strain structural determinant (SSD) are encoded in the fold of PrP Sc amyloid fibril assemblies. By exploring the quaternary structure dynamicity of several prion strains, we revealed that all mammalian prion assemblies exhibit the generic property of spontaneously generating two sets of discreet infectious tetrameric and dimeric species differing significantly by their specific infectivity. By using perturbation approaches such as dilution and ionic strength variation, we demonstrated that these two oligomeric species were highly dynamic and evolved differently in the presence of chaotropic agents. In general, our observations of seven different prion strains from three distinct species highlight the high dynamicity of PrP Sc assemblies as a common and intrinsic property of mammalian prions. The existence of such small infectious PrP Sc species harboring the SSD indicates that the prion infectivity and the SSD are not restricted only to the amyloid fold but can also be encoded in other alternative quaternary structures. Such diversity in the quaternary structure of prion assemblies tends to indicate that the structure of PrP Sc can be divided into two independent folding domains: a domain encoding the strain structural determinant and a second domain whose fold determines the type of quaternary structure that could adopt PrP Sc assemblies. Highlights Mammalian prion assemblies are highly dynamic Prion assemblies spontaneously disassemble into two infectious oligomers Prion infectivity is not exclusively encoded in the amyloid fibrils’ structure Two independent folding domains could structure Prion assemblie

PiT2 deficiency prevents increase of bone marrow adipose tissue during skeletal maturation but not in OVX-induced osteoporosis

International audienceThe common cellular origin between bone marrow adipocytes (BMAds) and osteoblasts contributes to the intimate link between bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT) and skeletal health. An imbalance between the differentiation ability of BMSCs towards one of the two lineages occurs in conditions like aging or osteoporosis, where bone mass is decreased. Recently, we showed that the sodium-phosphate co-transporter PiT2/SLC20A2 is an important determinant for bone mineralization, strength and quality. Since bone mass is reduced in homozygous mutant mice, we investigated in this study whether the BMAT was also affected in PiT2 -/- mice by assessing the effect of the absence of PiT2 on BMAT volume between 3 and 16 weeks, as well as in an ovariectomy-induced bone loss model. Here we show that the absence of PiT2 in juveniles leads to an increase in the BMAT that does not originate from an increased adipogenic differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells. We show that although PiT2 -/- mice have higher BMAT volume than control PiT2 +/+ mice at 3 weeks of age, BMAT volume do not increase from 3 to 16 weeks of age, leading to a lower BMAT volume in 16-week-old PiT2 -/- compared to PiT2 +/+ mice. In contrast, the absence of PiT2 does not prevent the increase in BMAT volume in a model of ovariectomy-induced bone loss. Our data identify SLC20a2/PiT2 as a novel gene essential for the maintenance of the BMAd pool in adult mice, involving mechanisms of action that remain to be elucidated, but which appear to be independent of the balance between osteoblastic and adipogenic differentiation of BMSCs

Image_1_PiT2 deficiency prevents increase of bone marrow adipose tissue during skeletal maturation but not in OVX-induced osteoporosis.tif

The common cellular origin between bone marrow adipocytes (BMAds) and osteoblasts contributes to the intimate link between bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT) and skeletal health. An imbalance between the differentiation ability of BMSCs towards one of the two lineages occurs in conditions like aging or osteoporosis, where bone mass is decreased. Recently, we showed that the sodium-phosphate co-transporter PiT2/SLC20A2 is an important determinant for bone mineralization, strength and quality. Since bone mass is reduced in homozygous mutant mice, we investigated in this study whether the BMAT was also affected in PiT2-/- mice by assessing the effect of the absence of PiT2 on BMAT volume between 3 and 16 weeks, as well as in an ovariectomy-induced bone loss model. Here we show that the absence of PiT2 in juveniles leads to an increase in the BMAT that does not originate from an increased adipogenic differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells. We show that although PiT2-/- mice have higher BMAT volume than control PiT2+/+ mice at 3 weeks of age, BMAT volume do not increase from 3 to 16 weeks of age, leading to a lower BMAT volume in 16-week-old PiT2-/- compared to PiT2+/+ mice. In contrast, the absence of PiT2 does not prevent the increase in BMAT volume in a model of ovariectomy-induced bone loss. Our data identify SLC20a2/PiT2 as a novel gene essential for the maintenance of the BMAd pool in adult mice, involving mechanisms of action that remain to be elucidated, but which appear to be independent of the balance between osteoblastic and adipogenic differentiation of BMSCs.</p

Table_1_PiT2 deficiency prevents increase of bone marrow adipose tissue during skeletal maturation but not in OVX-induced osteoporosis.docx

The common cellular origin between bone marrow adipocytes (BMAds) and osteoblasts contributes to the intimate link between bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT) and skeletal health. An imbalance between the differentiation ability of BMSCs towards one of the two lineages occurs in conditions like aging or osteoporosis, where bone mass is decreased. Recently, we showed that the sodium-phosphate co-transporter PiT2/SLC20A2 is an important determinant for bone mineralization, strength and quality. Since bone mass is reduced in homozygous mutant mice, we investigated in this study whether the BMAT was also affected in PiT2-/- mice by assessing the effect of the absence of PiT2 on BMAT volume between 3 and 16 weeks, as well as in an ovariectomy-induced bone loss model. Here we show that the absence of PiT2 in juveniles leads to an increase in the BMAT that does not originate from an increased adipogenic differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells. We show that although PiT2-/- mice have higher BMAT volume than control PiT2+/+ mice at 3 weeks of age, BMAT volume do not increase from 3 to 16 weeks of age, leading to a lower BMAT volume in 16-week-old PiT2-/- compared to PiT2+/+ mice. In contrast, the absence of PiT2 does not prevent the increase in BMAT volume in a model of ovariectomy-induced bone loss. Our data identify SLC20a2/PiT2 as a novel gene essential for the maintenance of the BMAd pool in adult mice, involving mechanisms of action that remain to be elucidated, but which appear to be independent of the balance between osteoblastic and adipogenic differentiation of BMSCs.</p

Image_3_PiT2 deficiency prevents increase of bone marrow adipose tissue during skeletal maturation but not in OVX-induced osteoporosis.tif

The common cellular origin between bone marrow adipocytes (BMAds) and osteoblasts contributes to the intimate link between bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT) and skeletal health. An imbalance between the differentiation ability of BMSCs towards one of the two lineages occurs in conditions like aging or osteoporosis, where bone mass is decreased. Recently, we showed that the sodium-phosphate co-transporter PiT2/SLC20A2 is an important determinant for bone mineralization, strength and quality. Since bone mass is reduced in homozygous mutant mice, we investigated in this study whether the BMAT was also affected in PiT2-/- mice by assessing the effect of the absence of PiT2 on BMAT volume between 3 and 16 weeks, as well as in an ovariectomy-induced bone loss model. Here we show that the absence of PiT2 in juveniles leads to an increase in the BMAT that does not originate from an increased adipogenic differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells. We show that although PiT2-/- mice have higher BMAT volume than control PiT2+/+ mice at 3 weeks of age, BMAT volume do not increase from 3 to 16 weeks of age, leading to a lower BMAT volume in 16-week-old PiT2-/- compared to PiT2+/+ mice. In contrast, the absence of PiT2 does not prevent the increase in BMAT volume in a model of ovariectomy-induced bone loss. Our data identify SLC20a2/PiT2 as a novel gene essential for the maintenance of the BMAd pool in adult mice, involving mechanisms of action that remain to be elucidated, but which appear to be independent of the balance between osteoblastic and adipogenic differentiation of BMSCs.</p

Image_2_PiT2 deficiency prevents increase of bone marrow adipose tissue during skeletal maturation but not in OVX-induced osteoporosis.tif

The common cellular origin between bone marrow adipocytes (BMAds) and osteoblasts contributes to the intimate link between bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT) and skeletal health. An imbalance between the differentiation ability of BMSCs towards one of the two lineages occurs in conditions like aging or osteoporosis, where bone mass is decreased. Recently, we showed that the sodium-phosphate co-transporter PiT2/SLC20A2 is an important determinant for bone mineralization, strength and quality. Since bone mass is reduced in homozygous mutant mice, we investigated in this study whether the BMAT was also affected in PiT2-/- mice by assessing the effect of the absence of PiT2 on BMAT volume between 3 and 16 weeks, as well as in an ovariectomy-induced bone loss model. Here we show that the absence of PiT2 in juveniles leads to an increase in the BMAT that does not originate from an increased adipogenic differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells. We show that although PiT2-/- mice have higher BMAT volume than control PiT2+/+ mice at 3 weeks of age, BMAT volume do not increase from 3 to 16 weeks of age, leading to a lower BMAT volume in 16-week-old PiT2-/- compared to PiT2+/+ mice. In contrast, the absence of PiT2 does not prevent the increase in BMAT volume in a model of ovariectomy-induced bone loss. Our data identify SLC20a2/PiT2 as a novel gene essential for the maintenance of the BMAd pool in adult mice, involving mechanisms of action that remain to be elucidated, but which appear to be independent of the balance between osteoblastic and adipogenic differentiation of BMSCs.</p