Editorial: EuPA Open Proteomics beyond 2013

BT/BiotechnologyApplied Science

Editorial: The birth of EuPA Open Proteomics

BT/BiotechnologyApplied Science

Optofluidic microsystem for on-chip L2-waveguide modulation featuring flow stabilization and a novel input coupling region

We present an optofluidic microsystem integrated onto a single device featuring on-chip light guiding and positioning under stable and low-loss conditions. Integration of optical components onto a microfluidic chip offers numerous new possibilities in the field of particle and cell analysis, but reconfigurable on-chip light positioning is still one of the major challenges. The recently developed device is built up as a liquid-core/liquid-cladding waveguide which enables versatile adjustment possibilities. Provided with a new input coupling region, the coupling efficiency was improved and straight light guidance could be ensured. Five liquid inlets allow a wide range of waveguide steering and by adapting the outlet part of the microfluidic channel stabilization of the liquid streams was obtained which could further improve the accuracy of light control. Fabricated in a single-layer photoresist, this integrated microflow system offers the novel possibility of continuously adapting on-chip light guidance, as successfully shown in this work.BT/BiotechnologyApplied Science

MS approaches to select peptides with post-translational modifications from amphibian defense secretions prior to full sequence elucidation

Peptide families are characterized by structural motifs, which often comprise specific post-translational modifications (PTMs) required for biological activity. In conventional bioactivity-based peptidomics studies natural peptide mixtures are chromatographically separated and the bioactive fractions purified to homogeneity, prior to structural characterization. In this paper we illustrate the reverse methodology, in which the primary structures of peptides with presumed bioactivity are first determined before investigating functions/bioactivities. We exemplify mass spectrometry (MS)-based strategies (employing, in particular, high resolution MS) to specifically select peptides – from complex mixtures such as frog defensive secretions – by virtue of the occurrence of particular PTMs, including amidation, disulfide-bonding, l- to d-amino acid isomerization, tyrosine-sulfation, proline-hydroxylation, and aminoterminal pyroglutamate formation.BT/BiotechnologyApplied Science

Sample Preparation Techniques for the Untargeted LC-MS-Based Discovery of Peptides in Complex Biological Matrices

Although big progress has been made in sample pretreatment over the last years, there are still considerable limitations when it comes to overcoming complexity and dynamic range problems associated with peptide analyses from biological matrices. Being the little brother of proteomics, peptidomics is a relatively new field of research aiming at the direct analysis of the small proteins, called peptides, many of which are not amenable for typical trypsin-based analytics. In this paper, we present an overview of different techniques and methods currently used for reducing a sample's complexity and for concentrating low abundant compounds to enable successful peptidome analysis. We focus on techniques which can be employed prior to liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry for peptide detection and identification and indicate their advantages as well as their shortcomings when it comes to the untargeted analysis of native peptides from complex biological matrices.BT/BiotechnologyApplied Science

Miniaturized Mass-Spectrometry-Based Analysis System for Fully Automated Examination of Conditioned Cell Culture Media

We present a fully automated setup for performing in-line mass spectrometry (MS) analysis of conditioned media in cell cultures, in particular focusing on the peptides therein. The goal is to assess peptides secreted by cells in different culture conditions. The developed system is compatible with MS as analytical technique, as this is one of the most powerful analysis methods for peptide detection and identification. Proof of concept was achieved using the well-known mating-factor signaling in baker’s yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Our concept system holds 1 mL of cell culture medium and allows maintaining a yeast culture for, at least, 40 hours with continuous supernatant extraction (and medium replenishing). The device’s small dimensions result in reduced costs for reagents and open perspectives towards full integration on-chip. Experimental data that can be obtained are time-resolved peptide profiles in a yeast culture, including information about the appearance of mating-factor-related peptides. We emphasize that the system operates without any manual intervention or pipetting steps, which allows for an improved overall sensitivity compared to non-automated alternatives.MS data confirmed previously reported aspects of the physiology of the yeastmating process. Moreover, matingfactor breakdown products (as well as evidence for a potentially responsible protease) were found.BT/BiotechnologyApplied Science

Development of a generic approach to metalloproteomics; application to the quantitative identification of soluble copper proteins in Escherichia coli

A combination of techniques to separate and quantify the native proteins associated with a particular transition metal ion from a cellular system has been developed. The procedure involves four steps: (1) labeling of the target proteins with a suitable short-lived radioisotope (suitable isotopes are Cu-64, Cu-67, W-187, Mo-99, Zn-69, Mn-56, Ni-65); (2) separation of intact soluble holoproteins using native isoelectric focusing combined with blue native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis into native–native 2D gel electrophoresis; (3) spot visualization and quantification using autoradiography; and (4) protein identification with tandem mass spectrometry. The method was applied to the identification of copper proteins from a soluble protein extract of wild-type Escherichia coli K12 using the radioisotope Cu-64. The E. coli protein CueO, which has previously been only identified as a multicopper oxidase following homologous overexpression, was now directly detected as a copper protein against a wild-type background at an expression level of 0.007% of total soluble protein. The retention of the radioisotope by the copper proteins throughout the separation process corroborates the method to be genuinely native. The procedure developed here can be applied to cells of any origin, and to any metal having suitable radioisotopes. The finding that the periplasmic protein CueO is the only major form of soluble protein bound copper in E. coli strengthens the view that the bacterial periplasm contains only a few periplasmic copper proteins, and that the cytosol is devoid of copper proteins.BiotechnologyApplied Science

A novel mechanism of iron-core formation by Pyrococcus furiosus archaeoferritin, a member of an uncharacterized branch of the ferritin-like superfamily

Storage of iron in a nontoxic and bioavailable form is essential for many forms of life. Three subfamilies of the ferritin-like superfamily, namely, ferritin, bacterioferritin, and Dps (DNA-binding proteins from starved cells), are able to store iron. Although the function of these iron-storage proteins is constitutive to many organisms to sustain life, the genome of some organisms appears not to encode any of these proteins. In an attempt to identify new iron-storage systems, we have found and characterized a new member of the ferritin-like superfamily of proteins, which unlike the multimeric storage system of ferritin, bacterioferritin, and Dps is monomeric in the absence of iron. Monomers catalyze oxidation of Fe(II) and they store the Fe(III) product as they assemble to form structures comparable to those of 24-meric ferritin. We propose that this mechanism is an alternative method of iron storage by the ferritin-like superfamily of proteins in organisms that lack the regular preassociated 24-meric/12-meric ferritins.BT/BiotechnologyApplied Science

Biochemical, transcriptomic and proteomic analyses of digestion in the scorpion Tityus serrulatus: Insights into function and evolution of digestion in an ancient arthropod

Scorpions are among the oldest terrestrial arthropods and they have passed through small morphological changes during their evolutionary history on land. They are efficient predators capable of capturing and consuming large preys and due to envenomation these animals can become a human health challenge. Understanding the physiology of scorpions can not only lead to evolutionary insights but also is a crucial step in the development of control strategies. However, the digestive process in scorpions has been scarcely studied. In this work, we describe the combinatory use of next generation sequencing, proteomic analysis and biochemical assays in order to investigate the digestive process in the yellow scorpion Tityus serrulatus, mainly focusing in the initial protein digestion. The transcriptome generated database allowed the quantitative identification by mass spectrometry of different enzymes and proteins involved in digestion. All the results suggested that cysteine cathepsins play an important role in protein digestion. Two digestive cysteine cathepsins were isolated and characterized presenting acidic characteristics (pH optima and stability), zymogen conversion to the mature form after acidic activation and a cross-class inhibition by pepstatin. A more elucidative picture of the molecular mechanism of digestion in a scorpion was proposed based on our results from Tityus serrulatus. The midgut and midgut glands (MMG) are composed by secretory and digestive cells. In fasting animals, the secretory granules are ready for the next predation event, containing enzymes needed for alkaline extra-oral digestion which will compose the digestive fluid, such as trypsins, astacins and chitinase. The digestive vacuoles are filled with an acidic proteolytic cocktail to the intracellular digestion composed by cathepsins L, B, F, D and legumain. Other proteins as lipases, carbohydrases, ctenitoxins and a chitolectin with a perithrophin domain were also detected. Evolutionarily, a large gene duplication of cathepsin L occurred in Arachnida with the sequences from ticks being completely divergent from other arachnids probably due to the particular selective pressures over this group.BiotechnologyApplied Science

The tungsten metallome of Pyrococcus furiosus

The tungsten metallome of the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus has been investigated using electroanalytical metal analysis and native–native 2D-PAGE with the radioactive tungsten isotope W-187 (t1/2 = 23.9 h). P. furiosus cells have an intracellular tungsten concentration of 29 mM, of which ca. 30% appears to be free tungsten, probably in the form of tungstate or polytungstates. The remaining 70% is bound by five different tungsten enzymes: formaldehyde ferredoxin oxidoreductase, aldehyde ferredoxin oxidoreductase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate ferredoxin oxidoreductase and the tungsten-containing oxidoreductases WOR4 and WOR5. The membrane proteome of P. furiosus is devoid of tungsten. The differential expression, as measured by the tungsten level, of the five soluble tungsten enzymes when the cells are subjected to a cold-shock shows a strong correlation with previously published DNA microarray analyses.BiotechnologyApplied Science