pFind Studio: a computational solution for mass spectrometry-based proteomics
2022
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology2022. Cai, Sarah W. et al.
Rockefeller Univ, Lab Mol Electron Microscopy, New York, NY 10065 USA; Rockefeller Univ, Lab Cell Biol & Genet, New York, NY 10065 USA
ABSTRACT:The CST-Pol alpha/primase complex is essential for telomere maintenance and functions to counteract resection at double-strand breaks. We report a 4.6-angstrom resolution cryo-EM structure of human CST-Pol alpha/primase, captured prior to catalysis in a recruitment state stabilized by chemical cross-linking. Our structure reveals an evolutionarily conserved interaction between the C-terminal domain of the catalytic POLA1 subunit and an N-terminal expansion in metazoan CTC1. Cross-linking mass spectrometry and negative-stain EM analysis provide insight into CST binding by the flexible POLA1 N-terminus. Finally, Coats plus syndrome disease mutations previously characterized to disrupt formation of the CST-Pol alpha/primase complex map to protein-protein interfaces observed in the recruitment state. Together, our results shed light on the architecture and stoichiometry of the metazoan fill-in machinery.
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Nature2022. Bharati, BK et al.
NYU, Sch Med, Dept Biochem & Mol Pharmacol, New York, NY 10012 USA; NYU, Sch Med, Howard Hughes Med Inst, New York, NY 10012 USA; Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Plant Physiol & Ecol, Ctr Excellence Mol Plant Sci, Key Lab Synthet Biol, Shanghai, Peoples R China
ABSTRACT:Transcription-coupled DNA repair (TCR) is presumed to be a minor sub-pathway of nucleotide excision repair (NER) in bacteria. Global genomic repair is thought to perform the bulk of repair independently of transcription. TCR is also believed to be mediated exclusively by Mfd-a DNA translocase of a marginal NER phenotype(1-3). Here we combined in cellulo cross-linking mass spectrometry with structural, biochemical and genetic approaches to map the interactions within the TCR complex (TCRC) and to determine the actual sequence of events that leads to NER in vivo. We show that RNA polymerase (RNAP) serves as the primary sensor of DNA damage and acts as a platform for the recruitment of NER enzymes. UvrA and UvrD associate with RNAP continuously, forming a surveillance pre-TCRC. In response to DNA damage, pre-TCRC recruits a second UvrD monomer to form a helicase-competent UvrD dimer that promotes backtracking of the TCRC. The weakening of UvrD-RNAP interactions renders cells sensitive to genotoxic stress. TCRC then recruits a second UvrA molecule and UvrB to initiate the repair process. Contrary to the conventional view, we show that TCR accounts for the vast majority of chromosomal repair events; that is, TCR thoroughly dominates over global genomic repair. We also show that TCR is largely independent of Mfd. We propose that Mfd has an indirect role in this process: it participates in removing obstructive RNAPs in front of TCRCs and also in recovering TCRCs from backtracking after repair has been completed.
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PNAS2022. Zinder, John C. et al.
Rockefeller Univ, Lab Cell Biol & Genet, New York, NY 10065 USA; Rockefeller Univ, Lab Mol Elect Microscopy, New York, NY 10065 USA
ABSTRACT:Human shelterin is a six-subunit complex-composed of TRF1, TRF2, Rap1, TIN2, TPP1, and POT1-that binds telomeres, protects them from the DNA-damage response, and regulates the maintenance of telomeric DNA. Although high-resolution structures have been generated of the individual structured domains within shelterin, the architecture and stoichiometry of the full complex are currently unknown. Here, we report the purification of shelterin subcomplexes and reconstitution of the entire complex using full-length, recombinant subunits. By combining negative-stain electron microscopy (EM), cross-linking mass spectrometry (XLMS), AlphaFold modeling, mass photometry, and native mass spectrometry (MS), we obtain stoichiometries as well as domain-scale architectures of shelterin subcomplexes and determine that they feature extensive conformational heterogeneity. For POT1/TPP1 and POT1/TPP1/TIN2, we observe high variability in the positioning of the POT1 DNA-binding domain, the TPP1 oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide-binding (OB) fold, and the TIN2 TRFH domain with respect to the C-terminal domains of POT1. Truncation of unstructured linker regions in TIN2, TPP1, and POT1 did not reduce the conformational variability of the heterotrimer. Shelterin and TRF1-containing subcomplexes form fully dimeric stoichiometries, even in the absence of DNA substrates. Shelterin and its subcomplexes showed extensive conformational variability, regardless of the presence of DNA substrates. We conclude that shelterin adopts a multitude of conformations and argue that its unusual architectural variability is beneficial for its many functions at telomeres.
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Cell Reports2022. Yang, LP et al.
Zhejiang Univ, Affiliated Hosp 2, Dept Infect Dis, Sch Med, Hangzhou 310009, Peoples R China; Chinese Acad Med Sci & Peking Union Med Coll, Inst Syst Med, Beijing 100005, Peoples R China; Suzhou Inst Syst Med, Suzhou 215123, Peoples R China; Univ Calif Los Angeles, Dept Microbiol Immunol & Mol Genet, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA
ABSTRACT:It is well known that interferon (IFN)-alpha/-beta activates the JAK/STAT signaling pathway and suppresses viral replication through the induction of IFN stimulated genes (ISGs). Here, we report that knockout of HDAC3 from macrophages results in the decreased expression of STAT1 and STAT2, leading to defective antiviral immunity in cells and mice. Further studies show that HDAC3 interacts with a conserved transcription factor Forkhead Box K1 (FOXK1), co-localizes with FOXK1 at the promoter of STAT1 and STAT2, and is required for protecting FOXK1 from lysosomal system-mediated degradation, FOXK1 -deficient macrophages also show low STAT1 and STAT2 expression with defective responses to viruses. Thus, our studies uncover the biological importance of HDAC3 in regulating the antiviral immunity of macrophages through interacting with FOXK1 to regulate the expression of STAT1 and STAT2.
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Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology2022. Vedula, Pavan et al.
Univ Penn, Sch Vet Med, Dept Biomed Sci, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA
ABSTRACT:Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a highly contagious virus of the coronavirus family that causes coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) in humans and a number of animal species. COVID-19 has rapidly propagated in the world in the past 2 years, causing a global pandemic. Here, we performed proteomic analysis of plasma samples from COVID-19 patients compared to healthy control donors in an exploratory study to gain insights into protein-level changes in the patients caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection and to identify potential proteomic and posttranslational signatures of this disease. Our results suggest a global change in protein processing and regulation that occurs in response to SARS-CoV-2, and the existence of a posttranslational COVID-19 signature that includes an elevation in threonine phosphorylation, a change in glycosylation, and a decrease in arginylation, an emerging posttranslational modification not previously implicated in infectious disease. This study provides a resource for COVID-19 researchers and, longer term, and will inform our understanding of this disease and its treatment.
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Free Radical Biology and Medicine2022. Zhu, DR et al.
China Pharmaceut Univ, Nanjing 210009, Peoples R China
ABSTRACT:Covalent modification of Keap1 results in reducing ubiquitination and the accumulation of Nrf2, which subsequently initiates the transcription of cellular anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory genes. Iso-seco-tanapartholide (IST), a sesquiterpene isolated from the traditional Chinese medicine Artemisia argyi, had been reported to possess NF-Kappa B inhibitory activity. However, its deep anti-inflammatory effects and direct target have never been reported. Here we show that IST activated Nrf2 and increased its target gene expression. In particular, LPScaused inflammation in vitro and in vivo was mitigated by IST-induced Nrf2 activation but aggravated by Nrf2 inhibition. Mechanically, IST targeted Keap1 proteins via alkylating its cysteine residues 151, 273, 288, and so on. Subsequently, the modifying agent IST was displaced by intermolecular sulfhydryl disulfide interchange to lead to a disulfide dimer of Keap1. The resulting conformational change of Keap1 liberated Nrf2 from sequestration and allowed it translocation to the nucleus to activate the transcriptional program. Further studies demonstrated that Keap1 dimer formation contributed to the anti-inflammatory effects of IST. Taken together, our findings reveal a new mechanism for Nrf2 activation and provide a potential lead compound to treat inflammatory diseases through targeting Keap1.
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Science Advances2022. Sourimant, J et al.
Georgia State Univ, Ctr Translat Antiviral Res, Inst Biomed Sci, Atlanta, GA 30303 USA
ABSTRACT:Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of lower respiratory infections in infants and the immuno-compromised, yet no efficient therapeutic exists. We have identified the AVG class of allosteric inhibitors of RSV RNA synthesis. Here, we demonstrate through biolayer interferometry and in vitro RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP) assays that AVG compounds bind to the viral polymerase, stalling the polymerase in initiation conformation. Resistance profiling revealed a unique escape pattern, suggesting a discrete docking pose. Affinity mapping using photoreactive AVG analogs identified the interface of polymerase core, capping, and connector domains as a molecular target site. A first-generation lead showed nanomolar potency against RSV in human airway epithelium organoids but lacked in vivo efficacy. Docking pose-informed synthetic optimization generated orally efficacious AVG-388, which showed potent efficacy in the RSV mouse model when administered therapeutically. This study maps a druggable target in the RSV RdRP and establishes clinical potential of the AVG chemotype against RSV disease.
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Bioinformatics2022. Na, S et al.
Hanyang Univ, Inst Artificial Intelligence Res, Seoul 04763, South Korea; Hanyang Univ, Dept Comp Sci, Seoul 04763, South Korea
ABSTRACT:Motivation: Tandem mass tag (TMT)-based tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) has become the method of choice for the quantification of post-translational modifications in complex mixtures. Many cancer proteogenomic studies have highlighted the importance of large-scale phosphopeptide quantification coupled with TMT labeling. Herein, we propose a predicted Spectral DataBase (pSDB) search strategy called Deephos that can improve both sensitivity and specificity in identifying MS/MS spectra of TMT-labeled phosphopeptides.Results: With deep learning-based fragment ion prediction, we compiled a pSDB of TMT-labeled phosphopeptides generated from similar to 8000 human phosphoproteins annotated in UniProt. Deep learning could successfully recognize the fragmentation patterns altered by both TMT labeling and phosphorylation. In addition, we discuss the decoy spectra for false discovery rate (FDR) estimation in the pSDB search. We show that FDR could be inaccurately estimated by the existing decoy spectra generation methods and propose an innovative method to generate decoy spectra for more accurate FDR estimation. The utilities of Deephos were demonstrated in multi-stage analyses (coupled with database searches) of glioblastoma, acute myeloid leukemia and breast cancer phosphoproteomes.
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JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY2022. Liu, Haijun et al.
Washington Univ St Louis, Dept Biol, One Brookings Dr,POB 1137, St Louis, MO 63130 USA
ABSTRACT:Intrinsically disordered proteins/regions (IDPRs) are a very large and functionally important class of pro-teins that participate in weak multivalent interactions in protein complexes. They are recalcitrant for inter-rogations using X-ray crystallography and cryo-EM. The IDPRs observed at the interface of the photosynthetic pigment protein complexes (PPCs) remain much less clear, e.g., the major cyanobacterial light-harvesting complex (PBS) contains an unstructured PB-loop insertion in the phycocyanobilin domain (PB domain) of ApcE (the largest polypeptide in PBS). Here, a joint platform is built to probe such struc-tural domains. This platform is characterized by two-round progressive justifications of in silico models by using the structural mass spectrometry data. First, the AlphaFold-generated 3D structure of the PB domain (containing PB-loop) was justified in the context of PBS. Second, docking the AlphaFold-generated ApcG (a ligand) into the first-step justified structure (a receptor). The final ligand-receptor com-plex was then subjected to a second-round justification, again, by using unequivocal isotopically-encoded cross-links identified in LC-MS/MS. This work reveals a full-length PB-loop structure modelled in the PBS basal cylinder, free from any spatial conflicts against the other subunits in PBS. The structure of PB domain highlights the close associations of the intrinsically disordered PB-loop with its binding partners in PBS, including ApcG, another IDPR. The PB-loop region involved in the binding of photosystem II (PSII) is also discussed in the context of excitation energy transfer regulation. This work calls attention to the highly disordered, yet interrogatable interface between the light-harvesting antenna complexes and the reaction centers.(c) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Journal of Proteome Research2022. Li, B et al.
Cent China Normal Univ, Sch Life Sci, Wuhan 430079, Hubei, Peoples R China; Cent China Normal Univ, Hubei Key Lab Genet Regulat & Integrat Biol, Wuhan 430079, Hubei, Peoples R China
ABSTRACT:Microproteins are generated from small open reading frames andturn out to play various vital biological functions. As an essential biological event ofeukaryotic cells, the cell cycle is involved in cell replication and division. For such ahighly regulated event, microproteins associated with cell cycle regulation remainedunclarified. Utilizing a combination of bottom-up and top-down proteomics, weanalyzed microproteins at specific cell cycle stages of Hep3B cells. A total of 657microproteins were identified under three cell cycle stages, including 151 in the G0/G1 stage, 163 in the S stage, and 132 in the G2/M stage. The annotation of these microproteins showed their cell cycle-specific functions, such as translation, nuclear assembly,chromatin organization, and the G2/M transition of the mitotic cell cycle. Meanwhile, more than 50% of identified microproteinswere ncRNA-encoded. These nonannotated novel microproteins contain several function domains, such as the nucleosidediphosphate kinase domain, the high mobility group domain, and the DNA-binding domain. This suggested the potential functionsof these novel microproteins in specific cell cycle stages. This study presented a large-scale profile of microproteins at different cellcycle stages from Hep3B and may provide new perspectives on the regulation mechanism of the cell cycle. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry data were deposited to ProteomeXchange using the identifier PXD030286.
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