Proteomic approaches to oxidative protein modifications implicated in the mechanism of aging.

Accumulation of oxidatively modified proteins is widely observed in aged animal tissues. Protein carbonyls are mostly derived from lysine, arginine, proline and threonine residues under oxidative conditions. Many groups have investigated carbonylated proteins since a convenient immunochemical procedure was established for detecting dinitrophenyl derivatives of carbonyls and applied to proteomic research. An alternative method of tagging with biotin or fluorescent dyes has been also introduced to proteomic analysis of protein carbonyls. Nitrotyrosine was primarily identified as a biomarker of cellular damage and inflammation under nitrosative stress. Nitrated proteins have been subsequently detected in aged animal tissues and Alzheimer's disease affected brains by Western blotting, and identified by mass spectrometry. Protein s-thiolation, a mixed-derivatization of cysteine (Cys) by conjugation of low-molecular-weight thiol compounds, is recognized as protecting functional proteins from more serious damage. A method of biotin labeling has been used in proteomics for tracing protein s-thiolation. Among all kinds of amino acid residues, methionine (Met) is the most susceptible to reactive oxygen species, and Met oxidation seems to occur in ordinary cellular circumstances because most cells contain Met sulfoxide reductases, which might prevent serious cellular damage. In proteomic analysis, Met sulfoxide-containing peptides are generally observed as 16-Da-high mass peaks in peptide mass fingerprinting. A modified procedure of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, in which proteins are kept under non-oxidative conditions throughout the procedure, is appropriate for the estimation of the Met sulfoxide level of each protein in aged animal tissues and cells to evaluate the pathophysiological significance of Met oxidation in the mechanism of aging.

Proteomic analysis of protein complexes in human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells by using blue-native gel electrophoresis: an increase in lamin A/C associated with heat shock protein 90 in response to 6-hydroxydopamine-induced oxidative stress.

There is accumulating evidence that oxidative stress plays an important role in aging. Our previous phosphoproteomic study of the human neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y revealed changes in the phosphorylation of several proteins such as lamin A/C during 6-hydroxydopamine-induced oxidative stress. The present study employed native proteomic analysis to clarify protein-protein interaction under physiological conditions. We examined oxidative stress-related changes in SH-SY5Y cellular proteins using blue-native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (BN-PAGE), a powerful tool for the separation of protein complexes. BN-PAGE gel images showed successful separation of several complexes. Components of these complexes, separated by 2-D BN-PAGE in combination with SDS-PAGE, were identified by peptide mass fingerprinting employing MALDI-TOF MS and an MS/MS ion search on LC-MS/MS. TCP-1 complex, ATP synthase, and the complex of heat shock protein 90 with its client proteins such as pyruvate kinase were detected. Two dimensional BN-PAGE and Western blot analysis revealed an increase of lamin A/C associated with heat shock protein 90 in response to 6-OHDA-induced oxidative stress.

Development of an open source laboratory information management system for 2-D gel electrophoresis-based proteomics workflow.

BACKGROUND: In the post-genome era, most research scientists working in the field of proteomics are confronted with difficulties in management of large volumes of data, which they are required to keep in formats suitable for subsequent data mining. Therefore, a well-developed open source laboratory information management system (LIMS) should be available for their proteomics research studies. RESULTS: We developed an open source LIMS appropriately customized for 2-D gel electrophoresis-based proteomics workflow. The main features of its design are compactness, flexibility and connectivity to public databases. It supports the handling of data imported from mass spectrometry software and 2-D gel image analysis software. The LIMS is equipped with the same input interface for 2-D gel information as a clickable map on public 2DPAGE databases. The LIMS allows researchers to follow their own experimental procedures by reviewing the illustrations of 2-D gel maps and well layouts on the digestion plates and MS sample plates. CONCLUSION: Our new open source LIMS is now available as a basic model for proteome informatics, and is accessible for further improvement. We hope that many research scientists working in the field of proteomics will evaluate our LIMS and suggest ways in which it can be improved.

Phosphoproteomic profiling of human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells during response to 6-hydroxydopamine-induced oxidative stress.

Dopaminergic neurons are known to be vulnerable to age-related neuronal disorders due to reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated during dopamine metabolism. However, it remains unclear what kinds of proteins are involved in the response to oxidative stress. We examined changes in whole proteins and phosphoproteins in the human dopaminergic neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y under oxidative stress induced by the dopaminergic neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). Proteins of SH-SY5Y cells at various stages of oxidative stress were separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis for comparative analysis. Increase in glutathione-S-transferase pi was detected on SYPRO Ruby-stained gels by computer-aided image analysis. Stress-induced alterations in phosphoproteins were detected by Pro-Q Diamond staining. Elongation factor 2, lamin A/C, T-complex protein 1, and heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein H3 were identified by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry as stress-responsive elements.