Project description:Label free quantititative phosphoproteomics analysis following TiO2 enrichment, nanoscale capillary chromatography and high resolution tandem mass spectrometry.
Project description:Biomolecular condensates are implicated in many cellular processes, and are thought to create subcellular microenvironments that regulate specific biochemical activities. For example, in vitro experiments suggest that condensates enable non-stoichiometric enrichment of small molecules within condensates. However, probing the microenvironments of condensates in cells is a major challenge, because tools to selectively manipulate specific condensates in living cells are limited. Here we developed a non-natural micropeptide (i.e., the “killswitch”) and a Nanobody-based recruitment system as a universal approach to probe endogenous condensates, and demonstrate direct links between condensate microenvironments and function in cells. The killswitch is a hydrophobic, aromatic-rich sequence with an ability to self-associate, and no homology to human proteins. When recruited to endogenous and disease-specific condensates in human cells, the killswitch arrested the dynamics of the condensate-forming proteins, which led to predicted and unexpected effects. Targeting the killswitch to the nucleolar protein NPM1 altered nucleolar composition, and inhibited the dynamics of a ribosomal protein within nucleoli. Targeting the killswitch to fusion oncoprotein condensates inhibited the dynamics of effector proteins in the condensates, altered condensate composition, and inhibited proliferation of condensate-driven leukemia cells. In adenoviral nuclear condensates, the killswitch inhibited partitioning of capsid protein into condensates, and suppressed viral particle assembly. The results suggest that the microenvironment within cellular condensates has an essential contribution to non-stoichiometric enrichment and the dynamics of effector proteins. The killswitch is a widely applicable tool to alter the material properties of endogenous condensates, and as a consequence, to probe functions of condensates linked to diverse physiological and pathological processes in living systems.
Project description:We applied the ultra-fast proteome profiling workflow to tissues collected from NSG mice treated with PBS (vehicle control), 20,000 U/kg ASNaseWT (Spectrila®), or 20,000 U/kg ASNaseQ59L for 0, 1, 3, 5, and 8 d. At each time point, mice were euthanized, and 13 tissues were collected, including subcutaneous white adipose tissue (SQWAT), gonadal adipose tissue (GAT), lung, spleen, stomach, small and large intestine, liver, kidney, heart, leg muscle, brain, and bone marrow. A total of 507 collected tissue samples were processed for quantitative proteome profiling.
Project description:Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in Children (MIS-C) occurs in children between two and six weeks following an initial SARS-CoV-2 infection. The mechanism through which a minority of children develop the hyperinflammation characteristic of MIS-C, while others remain well, is unknown. In this study we present an in-depth assessment of the proteome of children before and after SARS-CoV-2 infection, including children with MIS-C. Reassuringly, these data show that there were minimal changes to the circulating proteome in healthy children as result of SARS-CoV2 infection and there was no evidence of continued inflammation following SARS-CoV-2 infection in children. However, activation of pro-inflammatory pathways and raised circulating markers of myocardial and vascular damage were found to be significantly associated with MIS-C. Our findings have been verified in silico using publicly available proteomic datasets and hence several promising candidate biomarker proteins for diagnosis of MIS-C are identified and described herein.
Project description:Mutations that increase the protein kinase activity of LRRK2 are one of the most common causes of familial Parkinson's disease. LRRK2 phosphorylates a subset of Rab GTPases within their Switch-II motif, impacting interaction with effectors. We describe and validate a new, multiplex targeted mass spectrometry assay to quantify endogenous levels of LRRK2 phosphorylated Rab substrates (Rab1, Rab3, Rab8, Rab10, Rab35 and Rab43) as well as total levels of Rabs, LRRK2 and phosphorylation of the LRRK2 Ser910 and Ser935 biomarker sites. Exploiting this assay, we quantify for the first time the relative levels of each of the pRab proteins in different cells (mouse embryonic fibroblasts & human neutrophils) and mouse tissues (brain, lung, kidney and spleen). We define how each of the different pRab proteins are impacted by Parkinson’s pathogenic LRRK2[R1441C] and VPS35[D620N] mutations as well as LRRK2 inhibitors. We find that the VPS35[D620N], but not LRRK2[R1441C] mutation, enhances Rab1 phosphorylation in a manner blocked by administration of an LRRK2 inhibitor, providing the first evidence that LRRK2 can phosphorylate Rab1 physiologically. We argue that this targeted mass spectrometry assay can replace immunoblotting approaches currently deployed to assess LRRK2 Rab signalling pathway.
Project description:Lysosomes are implicated in a wide spectrum of human diseases including monogenic lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs), age-associated neurodegeneration and cancer. Profiling lysosomal content using tag-based lysosomal immunopurification (LysoIP) in cell and animal models allowed major discoveries in the field, however, studying lysosomal dysfunction in human patients remains a challenge. Here, we report the development of the tagless LysoIP method to enable rapid enrichment of lysosomes, via immunoisolation, using the endogenous integral lysosomal membrane protein TMEM192, directly from clinical samples and human cells. Isolated lysosomes are intact and suitable for subsequent multimodal omics analyses. To validate the utility of our approach, we employed the tagless LysoIP to enrich lysosomes from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) derived from fresh blood of patients with CLN3 Batten disease, a neurodegenerative LSD. Altogether, the tagless LysoIP provides a framework to study native lysosomes from patient samples, identify novel biomarkers and discover human-relevant disease mechanisms.
Project description:Purpose: This study has been aimed to investigate corneal wound healing facilitated by two hydrogels loaded with proteins derived from human amniotic membranes (AMs). Methods: Alkaline burns (8 mm diameter) were induced in the corneas of anesthetized male New Zealand White rabbits (n=44) using circular filter papers soaked in 1 M NaOH for 60 s. The wounds were rinsed immediately with a balanced salt solution, and rabbits received different treatments: 1) no treatment; 2) AM transplantation; 3) a dynamic hyaluronic acid hydrogel based on gold thiolate, and 4) a physically cross-linked ocular insert hydrogel, both loaded with AM protein extracts. The contralateral uninjured eye served as the control. Subsequently, wound area and proportion of healed corneas were assessed using microphotographs. Additionally, corneal histology was evaluated by haematoxylin–eosin and Masson's trichrome staining, examining epithelial and stromal thickness, endothelial layer, and inflammatory infiltration in the early (day 2) and late (day 28) phases of healing. Results: Animals treated with hydrogel (treatments 3 and 4) demonstrated higher corneal wound closure frequencies on day 14 (44.4% and 55.5%, respectively) compared to untreated controls (33.3%). Histologically, abnormal re-epithelialization and alterations in epithelial layer junctions were observed, with no significant differences in epithelial thickness. Endothelial damage correlated with significant thinning (p=0.001), and treatments 2 and 3 showed significant differences in inflammatory infiltrate (p=0.01). Conclusions: Application of new biocompatible hydrogels onto the ocular surface, synthesized to release proteins from AMs, may aid in closing corneal wounds caused by caustic burns. The aggressive nature of burns hinders detection of differences in wound area between treatments. Improving adhesiveness of solid hydrogel could enhance outcomes.