Primordial Black Holes as Generators of Cosmic Structures

Primordial black holes (PBHs) could provide the dark matter in various mass windows below $10^2 M_{\odot}$ and those of $30 M_{\odot}$ might explain the LIGO events. PBHs much larger than this might have important consequences even if they provide only a small fraction of the dark matter. In particular, they could generate cosmological structure either individually through through the `seed' effect or collectively through the `Poisson' effect, thereby alleviating some problems associated with the standard CDM scenario. If the PBHs all have a similar mass and make a small contribution to the dark matter, then the seed effect dominates on small scales, in which case PBHs could seed the supermassive black holes in galactic nuclei or even galaxies themselves. If they have a similar mass and provide the dark matter, the Poisson effect dominates on all scales and the first bound clouds would form earlier than in the usual scenario, with interesting observational consequences. If the PBHs have an extended mass spectrum, which is more likely, they could fulfill all three roles - providing the dark matter, binding the first bound clouds and generating galaxies. In this case, the galactic mass function naturally has the observed form, with the galaxy mass being simply related to the black hole mass. The stochastic gravitational wave background from the PBHs in this scenario would extend continuously from the LIGO frequency to the LISA frequency, offering a potential goal for future surveys.Comment: 48 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of Royal Astronomical Societ

Phosphoproteomic analysis identifies supervillin as an ERK3 substrate regulating cytokinesis and cell ploidy

Extracellular signal-regulated kinase 3 (ERK3) is a poorly characterized member of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase family. Functional analysis of the ERK3 signaling pathway has been hampered by a lack of knowledge about the substrates and downstream effectors of the kinase. Here, we used large-scale quantitative phosphoproteomics and targeted gene silencing to identify direct ERK3 substrates and gain insight into its cellular functions. Detailed validation of one candidate substrate identified the gelsolin/villin family member supervillin (SVIL) as a bona fide ERK3 substrate. We show that ERK3 phosphorylates SVIL on Ser245 to regulate myosin II activation and cytokinesis completion in dividing cells. Depletion of SVIL or ERK3 leads to increased cytokinesis failure and multinucleation, a phenotype rescued by wild type SVIL but not by the non-phosphorylatable S245A mutant. Our results unveil a new function of the atypical MAP kinase ERK3 in cell division and the regulation of cell ploidy

Sample Collection Method Bias Effects in Quantitative Phosphoproteomics

Current advances in selective enrichment, fractionation, and MS detection of phosphorylated peptides allowed identification and quantitation of tens of thousands phosphosites from minute amounts of biological material. One of the major challenges in the field is preserving the in vivo phosphorylation state of the proteins throughout the sample preparation workflow. This is typically achieved by using phosphatase inhibitors and denaturing conditions during cell lysis. Here we determine if the upstream cell collection techniques could introduce changes in protein phosphorylation. To evaluate the effect of sample collection protocols on the global phosphorylation status of the cell, we compared different sample workflows by metabolic labeling and quantitative mass spectrometry on <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i> cell cultures. We identified highly similar phosphopeptides for cells harvested in ice cold isotonic phosphate buffer, cold ethanol, trichloroacetic acid, and liquid nitrogen. However, quantitative analyses revealed that the commonly used phosphate buffer unexpectedly activated signaling events. Such effects may introduce systematic bias in phosphoproteomics measurements and biochemical analysis

Sample Collection Method Bias Effects in Quantitative Phosphoproteomics

Current advances in selective enrichment, fractionation, and MS detection of phosphorylated peptides allowed identification and quantitation of tens of thousands phosphosites from minute amounts of biological material. One of the major challenges in the field is preserving the in vivo phosphorylation state of the proteins throughout the sample preparation workflow. This is typically achieved by using phosphatase inhibitors and denaturing conditions during cell lysis. Here we determine if the upstream cell collection techniques could introduce changes in protein phosphorylation. To evaluate the effect of sample collection protocols on the global phosphorylation status of the cell, we compared different sample workflows by metabolic labeling and quantitative mass spectrometry on <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i> cell cultures. We identified highly similar phosphopeptides for cells harvested in ice cold isotonic phosphate buffer, cold ethanol, trichloroacetic acid, and liquid nitrogen. However, quantitative analyses revealed that the commonly used phosphate buffer unexpectedly activated signaling events. Such effects may introduce systematic bias in phosphoproteomics measurements and biochemical analysis

Displacement of N/Q-rich Peptides on TiO₂ Beads Enhances the Depth and Coverage of Yeast Phosphoproteome Analyses

Phosphorylation is a reversible protein modification that regulates major cellular processes such as cell division, growth, and differentiation through highly dynamic and complex signaling pathways. Large-scale phosphoproteomics analyses have been greatly facilitated using affinity chromatography such as metal oxide affinity chromatography (e.g., TiO₂), which in combination with mass spectrometry has enabled unbiased detection and quantification of thousands of phosphorylation sites in a single experiment. However, global phosphoproteome analyses do not provide comparable enrichment yields for different model organisms. While the proportion of phosphopeptides exceed 90% in mammalian cells using TiO₂, similar levels have been notoriously difficult to achieve for yeast or dictylostelium cells. In a systematic study of TiO₂ using cell extracts from different organisms, we determined that phosphopeptides are coenriched with peptides containing repetitive stretches of glutamine and asparagine residues. The proportion of these nonspecific binders can reach up to 50% in cell extracts from budding yeast and thus limit the depth and comprehensiveness of phosphoproteomics analyses. To address this limitation, we developed an effective method that used decoy amino acids to reduce the extent of nonspecific peptide binding and improve the recovery and detection of low abundance phosphopeptides that remained undetected by conventional TiO₂ enrichment protocols

Displacement of N/Q-rich Peptides on TiO₂ Beads Enhances the Depth and Coverage of Yeast Phosphoproteome Analyses

Phosphorylation is a reversible protein modification that regulates major cellular processes such as cell division, growth, and differentiation through highly dynamic and complex signaling pathways. Large-scale phosphoproteomics analyses have been greatly facilitated using affinity chromatography such as metal oxide affinity chromatography (e.g., TiO₂), which in combination with mass spectrometry has enabled unbiased detection and quantification of thousands of phosphorylation sites in a single experiment. However, global phosphoproteome analyses do not provide comparable enrichment yields for different model organisms. While the proportion of phosphopeptides exceed 90% in mammalian cells using TiO₂, similar levels have been notoriously difficult to achieve for yeast or dictylostelium cells. In a systematic study of TiO₂ using cell extracts from different organisms, we determined that phosphopeptides are coenriched with peptides containing repetitive stretches of glutamine and asparagine residues. The proportion of these nonspecific binders can reach up to 50% in cell extracts from budding yeast and thus limit the depth and comprehensiveness of phosphoproteomics analyses. To address this limitation, we developed an effective method that used decoy amino acids to reduce the extent of nonspecific peptide binding and improve the recovery and detection of low abundance phosphopeptides that remained undetected by conventional TiO₂ enrichment protocols

Displacement of N/Q-rich Peptides on TiO₂ Beads Enhances the Depth and Coverage of Yeast Phosphoproteome Analyses

Phosphorylation is a reversible protein modification that regulates major cellular processes such as cell division, growth, and differentiation through highly dynamic and complex signaling pathways. Large-scale phosphoproteomics analyses have been greatly facilitated using affinity chromatography such as metal oxide affinity chromatography (e.g., TiO₂), which in combination with mass spectrometry has enabled unbiased detection and quantification of thousands of phosphorylation sites in a single experiment. However, global phosphoproteome analyses do not provide comparable enrichment yields for different model organisms. While the proportion of phosphopeptides exceed 90% in mammalian cells using TiO₂, similar levels have been notoriously difficult to achieve for yeast or dictylostelium cells. In a systematic study of TiO₂ using cell extracts from different organisms, we determined that phosphopeptides are coenriched with peptides containing repetitive stretches of glutamine and asparagine residues. The proportion of these nonspecific binders can reach up to 50% in cell extracts from budding yeast and thus limit the depth and comprehensiveness of phosphoproteomics analyses. To address this limitation, we developed an effective method that used decoy amino acids to reduce the extent of nonspecific peptide binding and improve the recovery and detection of low abundance phosphopeptides that remained undetected by conventional TiO₂ enrichment protocols

A Cell-Signaling Network Temporally Resolves Specific versus Promiscuous Phosphorylation

If specific and functional kinase- or phosphatase-substrate interactions are optimized for binding compared to promiscuous interactions, then changes in phosphorylation should occur faster on functional versus promiscuous substrates. To test this hypothesis, we designed a high temporal resolution global phosphoproteomics protocol to study the high-osmolarity glycerol (HOG) response in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The method provides accurate, stimulus-specific measurement of phosphoproteome changes, quantitative analysis of phosphodynamics at sub-minute temporal resolution, and detection of more phosphosites. Rates of evolution of dynamic phosphosites were comparable to those of known functional phosphosites and significantly lower than static or longer-time-frame dynamic phosphosites. Kinetic profile analyses indicated that putatively functional kinase- or phosphatase-substrate interactions occur more rapidly, within 60 s, than promiscuous interactions. Finally, we report many changes in phosphorylation of proteins implicated in cytoskeletal and mitotic spindle dynamics that may underlie regulation of cell cycle and morphogenesis

Combined Enrichment/Enzymatic Approach To Study Tightly Clustered Multisite Phosphorylation on Ser-Rich Domains

The regulation of protein function through phosphorylation is often dominated by allosteric interactions and conformational changes. However, alternative mechanisms involving electrostatic interactions also regulate protein function. In particular, phosphorylation of clusters of Ser/Thr residues can affect protein-plasma membrane/chromatin interactions by electrostatic interactions between phosphosites and phospholipids or histones. Currently, only a few examples of such mechanisms are reported, primarily because of the difficulties of detecting highly phosphorylated proteins and peptides, due in part to the low ionization efficiency and fragmentation yield of multiphosphorylated peptides in mass spectrometry when using positive ion mode detection. This difficulty in detection has resulted in under-reporting of such modified regions, which can be thought of as phosphoproteomic dark matter. Here, we present a novel approach that enriches for multisite-phosphorylated peptides that until now remained inaccessible by conventional phosphoproteomics. Our technique enables the identification of multisite-phosphorylated regions on more than 300 proteins in both yeast and human cells and can be used to profile changes in multisite phosphorylation upon cell stimulation. We further characterize the role of multisite phosphorylation for Ste20 in the yeast mating pheromone response. Mutagenesis experiments confirmed that multisite phosphorylation of Ser/Thr-rich regions plays an important role in the regulation of Ste20 activity during mating pheromone signaling. The ability to detect protein multisite phosphorylation opens new avenues to explore phosphoproteomic dark matter and to study Ser-rich proteins that interact with binding partners through charge pairing mechanisms

Combined Enrichment/Enzymatic Approach To Study Tightly Clustered Multisite Phosphorylation on Ser-Rich Domains

The regulation of protein function through phosphorylation is often dominated by allosteric interactions and conformational changes. However, alternative mechanisms involving electrostatic interactions also regulate protein function. In particular, phosphorylation of clusters of Ser/Thr residues can affect protein-plasma membrane/chromatin interactions by electrostatic interactions between phosphosites and phospholipids or histones. Currently, only a few examples of such mechanisms are reported, primarily because of the difficulties of detecting highly phosphorylated proteins and peptides, due in part to the low ionization efficiency and fragmentation yield of multiphosphorylated peptides in mass spectrometry when using positive ion mode detection. This difficulty in detection has resulted in under-reporting of such modified regions, which can be thought of as phosphoproteomic dark matter. Here, we present a novel approach that enriches for multisite-phosphorylated peptides that until now remained inaccessible by conventional phosphoproteomics. Our technique enables the identification of multisite-phosphorylated regions on more than 300 proteins in both yeast and human cells and can be used to profile changes in multisite phosphorylation upon cell stimulation. We further characterize the role of multisite phosphorylation for Ste20 in the yeast mating pheromone response. Mutagenesis experiments confirmed that multisite phosphorylation of Ser/Thr-rich regions plays an important role in the regulation of Ste20 activity during mating pheromone signaling. The ability to detect protein multisite phosphorylation opens new avenues to explore phosphoproteomic dark matter and to study Ser-rich proteins that interact with binding partners through charge pairing mechanisms