Project description:To confirm the flg22-induced BSU1 phosphorylation site, we performed targeted quantification by PRM analysis with SILIA IP-MS sample. The isotopes switched in replicate experiments.
Project description:There is an urgent need for robust and high-throughput methods for SARS-CoV-2 detection in suspected pa-tient samples to facilitate disease management, surveillance, and control. Although nucleic acid detection methods such as RT-PCR are the gold standard, during the current pandemic the deployment of RT-PCR tests has been extremely slow, and key reagents such as PCR primers, and RNA extraction kits are at critical shortages. Rapid point-of-care viral antigen detec-tion methods have been previously employed for the diagnosis of respiratory viruses such as influenza and respiratory syn-cytial viruses. Therefore, the direct detection of SARS-CoV-2 viral antigens in patient samples could also be used for diagno-sis of active infection and alternative methodologies for specific and sensitive viral protein detection should be explored. Targeted mass spectrometry techniques have enabled the identification and quantitation of a defined subset of pro-teins/peptides at single amino acid resolution with attomole level sensitivity and high reproducibility. Herein we report a tar-geted mass spectrometry assay for the detection of SARS- CoV-2 spike protein and nucleoprotein in a relevant biologi-cal matrix. Recombinant full-length spike protein and nucleoprotein were digested and prototypic peptides were selected for parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) quantitation using a high resolution Orbitrap instrument. A spectral library, which con-tained 7 proteotypic peptides (4 from spike protein and 3 from nucleoprotein) and the top 3 to 4 transitionsMS2 spectra, was generated and evaluated. From the original spectral library, we selected 2 best performing peptides for the final PRM assay. The assay was evaluated using mock test samples containing inactivated SARS-CoV-2 virions, added to in-vitro de-rived mucus. The PRM assay provided a limit of detection (LOD) of ~200 attomoles and a limit of quantitation (LOQ) of ~ 390 attomoles. Extrapolating from the test samples, the projected titer of virus particles necessary for detection of SARS-CoV-2 spike and nucleoprotein detection was approximately 2E5 viral particles/mL, making it an attractive alternative to RT-PCR assays. Potentially mass spectrometry-based methods for viral antigen detection may deliver higher throughput and could serve as a complementary diagnostic tool to RT-PCR. Furthermore, this assay could be used to evaluate the pres-ence of SARS-CoV-2 in archived or recently collected biological fluids, in-vitro derived research materials, and wastewater samples
Project description:Calpains are calcium (Ca2+) activated neutral proteases that are involved in several essential signaling pathways. One Calpain-specific proteolytic target is Junctophilin-2 (JP2), an important structural protein of Ca2+ release units required for the excitation-contraction coupling in cardiomyocytes. While downregulation of JP2 by Calpain cleavage in mouse models of heart failure has been reported previously, the precise molecular identity of the Calpain cleavage sites and the (patho-) physiological roles of the JP2 proteolytic products remain controversial. We systematically analyzed the JP2 cleavage fragments as function of Calpain-1 versus Calpain-2 proteolytic activities, revealing that both Calpain isoforms preferentially cleave mouse JP2 at R565, but subsequently also at three additional secondary Calpain cleavage sites. We identified the Calpain-specific primary cleavage products not only in mouse but also in human iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs). Knockout of RyR2 in hiPSC-CMs destabilized JP2 resulting in an increase of the Calpain-specifc cleavage fragments. The primary N-terminal cleavage product (NT1) accumulated in the nucleus of mouse and human cardiomyocytes in a Ca2+ dependent manner, closely associated with DNA-rich chromosomal regions, where NT1 is proposed to function as a cardioprotective transcriptional regulator in heart failure. Taken together, our data suggest that stabilizing NT1 by preventing secondary cleavage events by Calpain and other proteases could be an important therapeutic target for future studies.
Project description:For the reproducible analysis of peptides by mass spectrometry-based proteomics, data-independent acquisition (DIA) and parallel/multiple reaction monitoring (PRM/MRM) deliver unrivalled performance with respect to sensitivity and reproducibility. Both approaches come, however, with distinct advantages as well as shortcomings. While DIA enables the unbiased analysis of a large fraction of a sample’s proteome, it shows limitations with respect to dynamic range and the reproducible identification/quantification of low-abundant proteins. PRM, on the other hand, is ideally suited to reproducibly and sensitively quantify selected peptides originating from the proteins of interest, even if they are low-abundant, but no knowledge of the remaining sample is obtained. Here, we combine both methods into a mixed DIA-PRM acquisition approach, thereby merging the benefits of each method, while operating at reduced machine run times and sample amount, relative to individual measurements. We demonstrate the feasibility of the approach by merging a scheduled PRM assay for 59 low-abundant lysosomal hydrolases, covered through 103 peptides, with a DIA data acquisition scheme. After benchmarking DIA-PRM against mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) whole cell lysates, we use the approach to investigate disease progression in brain tissues of a mouse model of metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD). In these tissues, we found a progressive increase in lysosomal hydrolases in MLD as compared to healthy control mice .
Project description:The phosphorylation-based signalling and protein changes occurring in the early phases after a pathophysiological insult, like status epilepticus (SE), have not been detailed. In a companion project, the hippocampi of mice treated with pilocarpine and diazepam were examined by tandem mass tag (TMT11plex) mass spectrometry at 4 and 24 h post-status epilepticus (PXD038241). In the accompanying article, the results implicated posttranscriptional regulatory proteins as early targets of increased phosphorylation. Also, the major targets of decreased phosphorylation at 4 h and 24 h were a subset of post synaptic density scaffold proteins, ion channels and neurotransmitter receptors. Here, the earlier work is repeated on protein and phosphorylation site targets representative of the important SE-dependent changes using parallel reaction monitoring (PRM), supporting the main findings.
Project description:The efficacy of killing human cancer cells by a modified Herpes-simplex-virus thymidine kinase TK.007/ganciclovir (GCV) system was investigated in malignant cells of different histogenetic origin. The aim was to determine whether different histogenetic origins of cancer cells in them-selves influence their reaction towards an approach of synthetic lethality, which theoretically should be applicable independently of the cell type. Fifteen malignant human cell lines were transduced with a lentiviral vector to stably express the TK.007 gene and cell proliferation assays under GCV were performed. Among TK.007-expressing cell lines, lymphoma and leuke-mia cells were more susceptible to killing than solid cancer cells, while osteosarcoma and mela-noma cells exhibited an intermediate susceptibility. Similar differences in killing were also noted in wild-type non-transduced cells. This study highlights that the histogenetic origin of malignant cells strongly influences their susceptibility towards cytotoxic agents, with leukemias and lym-phomas being more sensitive than solid cancer cells.
Project description:In the unicellular eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Cln3-CDK activity enables Start, the irreversible commitment to the cell division cycle. However, the concentration of Cln3 has been paradoxically considered to remain constant during G1, due to the presumed scaling of its production rate with cell size dynamics. Measuring metabolic and biosynthetic activity during cell cycle progression in single cells, we found that cells exhibit pulses in protein production rate, which do not scale with cell size dynamics, but -following the intrinsic metabolic dynamics- peak around Start. Using a viral-based bicistronic construct and targeted proteomics to measure Cln3 at the single-cell and population level, we show that the differential scaling between protein production and cell size leads to a temporal increase in Cln3 concentration, and passage through Start. This differential scaling causes Start in both daughter and mother cells, across growth conditions. Thus, uncoupling between two fundamental physiological parameters drives cell cycle commitment.
Project description:The pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS) remains to be elucidated. Pediatric-onset MS (POMS) represents the earliest stage of the disease. CSF proteins in POMS may therefore provide causal information. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to analyze CSF proteins in children with an initial CNS acquired demyelinating syndrome (ADS) and to make a comparison between POMS and monophasic ADS (mADS). Patients were selected from two prospective pediatric ADS studies. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was performed in a Dutch discovery cohort (POMS n=28; mADS n=39). Parallel reaction monitoring-mass spectrometry was performed on selected proteins more abundant in POMS with ≥ 8 unique peptides in a combined Dutch and Canadian validation cohort (POMS n=48; mADS n=106).
Project description:Identification of BLM phosphosites. The experiment is composed by 2 parts: i) identification of BLM phosphosites with DDA method ii) quantification of phosphosites with a targeted method.
Project description:NPCs were cultured in the presence of small-molecule inhibitors of PRC2, and the post-translational modification status of histone H3 at lysines 27 and 36 was analyzed by quantitative mass spectrometry to verify the efficacy of the treatment.