Organellar protein complexes of Caco-2 human cells analyzed by two-dimensional blue native/SDS-PAGE and mass spectrometry.

The complexome is essential for a better understanding of protein functions. In order to study protein complexes, an approach allowing the extraction and the analysis in native conditions is needed. Two-dimensional blue native/SDS-PAGE (2D BN/SDS-PAGE) technology is thus an interesting and powerful approach for this purpose. This report deals with the analysis and the identification of the organellar protein complexes of Caco-2 human cells using 2D BN/SDS-PAGE and HPLC-chip-MS. We identified 58 protein complexes (26 heteromultimeric and 32 homomultimeric complexes) and 4 monomeric proteins. Among them, 32 protein complexes were pointed out, providing insights into the function of previously uncharacterized human proteins.

Toward a full characterization of the human 20S proteasome subunits and their isoforms by a combination of proteomic approaches.

The 20S proteasome is a multicatalytic protein complex, present in all eukaryotic cells, that plays a major role in intracellular protein degradation. In mammalian cells, this symmetrical cylindrical complex is composed of two copies each of seven different alpha and beta subunits arranged into four stacked rings (alpha(7)beta(7)beta(7)alpha(7)). Separation by two-dimensional (2D) gel electrophoresis of the human erythrocytes 20S proteasome subunits and mass spectrometry (MS) identification of all the observed spots reveal the presence of multiple isoforms for most of the subunits. These isoforms could correspond to protein variants and/or posttranslational modifications that may influence the 20S proteasome proteolytic activity. Their characterization is therefore important to establish the rules governing structure/activity relationships of the human 20S proteasome. This chapter describes the use of a combination of proteomic approaches to characterize the human 20S proteasome subunit isoforms separated by 2D gel electrophoresis. A "top-down" strategy was developed to determine by electrospray MS the molecular mass of the intact protein after its passive elution from the gel. Comparison of the experimental molecular mass to the theoretical one can reveal the presence of possible modifications. "Bottom-up" proteomic approaches are then performed and, after protein digestion, tandem MS analyses of the modified peptides allow the characterization and location of the modification. These methods are discussed for the study of the human erythrocytes 20S proteasome subunit isoforms.

Cancer immunomics: from serological proteome analysis to multiple affinity protein profiling.

Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Thus, to identify any useful biomarkers is still a need. We performed "cancer immunomics" to identify autoantibody signatures produced in response to the presence of either breast or colorectal cancer. SERological proteome analysis (SERPA) was performed by two-dimensional (2-D) electrophoresis separation, immunoblotting, image analysis, and mass spectrometry. Alternatively, to identify the antigens recognized by the autoantibodies of cancer patients, we developed an approach combining 2-D immunoaffinity chromatography, enzymatic digestion of the isolated antigens, nano flow separation of the resulting peptides, and identification: MAPPing (multiple affinity protein profiling). By these approaches we identified both proteins recognized by autoantibodies independently of a cancer status, and a limited number of proteins reacting preferentially with cancer sera.