This work was supported by grants AG027818 and AG030709 from NIH/NIA, 2005/2E from the Larry L. Hillblom Foundation, IIRG-07-58334 from the Alzheimer Association, and 07-65798 from California Department of Public Health.

1. Peptide preparation
<ol>
<li>Weigh out ~100&ndash;200 &mu;g of lyophilized peptide using a microbalance and transfer into labeled, silicon-coated, low-adsorbent microfuge tubes. Here, we use the human sequences of A&beta;40, A&beta;42, calcitonin, and GRF.</li>
<li>Here, we use peptides pre-treated with 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP) to obtain homogeneous, aggregate-free preparations. This step is necessary because pre-formed aggregates induce rapid aggregation of amyloidogenic proteins, which result in poor reproducibility among experiments5. Other methods such as filtration and SEC also can be used to obtain aggregate-free preparations for PICUP6.</li>
<li>To treat the peptides with HFIP, pre-chill the HFIP container on ice inside a fume hood wearing adequate protection (HFIP is volatile and toxic). Cooling of a 250 ml bottle typically requires 10&ndash;15 min. Add HFIP to pre-chilled tubes containing peptide lyophilizates to obtain a nominal peptide concentration of 0.5 mM.</li>
<li>Sonicate the peptide solutions in a water-bath sonicator for 5 min at room temperature.</li>
<li>Vortex gently and incubate the tubes for 30 min at room temperature.</li>
<li>Chill the tubes on ice (for 1 min), and divide the solutions into 10&ndash;50-&mu;l aliquots in labeled 0.6-ml low-adsorbent tubes.</li>
<li>Remove HFIP by evaporation under a gentle stream of nitrogen, or leave the tubes open in the fume hood overnight. For overnight evaporation, place the open tubes in a rack and cover them with a large sheet of Kimwipes to prevent dust and particulate contamination.</li>
<li>Exsiccate the remaining HFIP in vacuo in a lyophilizer, or a centrifugal concentrator for 30 min, or in an exsiccator attached to a vacuum inlet for 2 h. The final product will be a peptide film at the bottom of the microfuge tubes. If properly exsiccated, the tubes can be stored airtight for extended periods (months) at &minus;20 or &minus;80 &deg;C.</li>
</ol>
2. Solubilizing the HFIP-treated peptides and photo cross-linking
<ol>
<li>Before solubilizing the HFIP-treated peptides for cross-linking reactions, one needs to prepare the cross-linking and quenching reagents.</li>
<li>Weigh out ammonium persulfate (APS, Mr 228.2 g/mol) and prepare a 20 mM solution in 10 mM sodium phosphate, pH 7.4. Mix using a vortex until the solution is clear.</li>
<li>Prepare 1 mM solution of Tris(2,2-bipyridyl)dichlororuthenium(II) hexahydrate (RuBpy, Mr 748.63 g/mol) in 10 mM sodium phosphate, pH 7.4. Mix using a vortex and verify complete dissolution. Protect the tube from light using aluminum foil.</li>
<li>For SDS-PAGE analysis following cross-linking, a convenient quenching reagent is 5% &beta;-mercaptoethanol in 2&times; SDS-PAGE sample buffer. Alternatively, 1 M dithiothreitol (DTT, Mr 154.5 g/mol) in deionized water or a suitable buffer can be used.</li>
<li>HFIP-treated peptide films are dissolved in dilute NaOH first and then sodium phosphate buffer is added to get ~30 &mu;M peptide concentration. Add 60 mM NaOH followed by deionized water into the tube containing the peptide film such that NaOH and water constitute 10 and 45% of the final volume, respectively. Scrape the peptide film off the inside walls of microfuge tube using the tip, mix by pipetting up and down, and sonicate for 5 min in a water-bath sonicator.</li>
<li>Add 45% 20 mM sodium phosphate, pH 7.4, mix by pipetting, and centrifuge at 16,000 g for 10 min. Set aside aliquots of uncross-linked peptides mixed with the quenching reagent for negative controls.</li>
<li>Adjust the camera shutter-delay to 1 s. At higher irradiation times, extensive radical reactions may cause protein degradation. Load the camera shutter. Irradiation time may need to be optimized when using the method with a new protein.</li>
<li>A typical PICUP reaction is performed in a 20 &mu;l reaction volume. Transfer 18 &mu;l of the peptide solution into a thin-walled, clear, 0.2-ml PCR tube.</li>
<li>To the peptide solution, add 1 &mu;l RuBpy followed by 1 &mu;l APS and mix the reagents by pipetting (the final concentration of RuBpy and APS in the reaction mixture will be 0.05 and 1 mM, respectively).</li>
<li>Quickly place the reaction tube inside a 1.8-mL glass vial. Place the vial inside the bellows attached in front of the camera body. Attach the lens protector and press the shutter so that the sample is irradiated for 1 s inside the bellows. </li>
<li>After sample irradiation, quickly take the vial out of the bellows and the PCR tube out of the vial. Quickly quench the reaction by adding 1 &mu;l DTT or 10 &mu;l reducing PAGE sample buffer. Repeat the reaction for each peptide aliquot.</li>
<li>The reaction mixtures can now be frozen at &minus;20 &deg;C for storage for no longer than 7 days or kept on ice before analysis by SDS-PAGE and silver-staining.</li>
</ol>
3. SDS-PAGE and sliver-staining of cross-linked peptide products
<ol>
<li>Routine SDS-PAGE and silver-staining are performed to visualize cross-linked peptides.</li>
<li>Load 5 &mu;l of the reaction mixture per lane to obtain ~130 pmol of peptide per lane.</li>
<li>Include similar amounts of uncross-linked peptides for comparison. Also include a standard protein ladder for visual approximation of molecular weight of peptide bands.</li>
<li>Run the gel using a standard gel electrophoresis apparatus. We use the XCell SureLock Mini-Cell system from Invitrogen and perform silver-staining according to Invitrogen publication IM-1002, Novex Pre-Cast Gel Electrophoresis Guide.</li>
</ol>
Part 4: Representative Results (Figure 1)
<img src="/files/ftp_upload/old/1071_2009_1_19_13/Result no demarcation.png" alt="Figure 1" />
Figure 1: Silver-stained polyacrylamide gels showing uncross-linked (&minus;) and photo-cross-linked (+) GRF, calcitonin, A&beta;40, and A&beta;42
SDS-PAGE and silver-staining analyses of PICUP-generated A&beta;40 oligomers show approximately similar band intensities of monomer through tetramer, followed by a sharp decrease in the abundance of higher oligomers7. Uncross-linked A&beta;40 migrates with an Mr consistent with that of monomer7. A&beta;42 shows a distinct oligomer size distribution. A&beta;42 oligomers comprise 2&ndash;3 groups8. The first group, monomer through trimer, displays decreasing intensity with increasing oligomer order. In the second group, a Gaussian-like distribution is observed between tetramer and heptamer, with a maximum at pentamer and hexamer. The third group, which is not shown here, contains oligomers of Mr ~30,000&ndash;60,000 Da8. These higher Mr oligomers typically are observed using SEC-isolated LMW A&beta;42 but not peptide prepared by filtration or HFIP treatment6. Uncross-linked A&beta;42 produces predominantly two bands, a monomer band and a broad trimer/tetramer band, which is an artefact induced by SDS5,9. Calcitonin yields an oligomer size distribution that strongly diverges from a monotonous exponential decrease in the region monomer through tetramer, suggesting pre-existence of dimers, trimers, and tetramers7. The control polypeptide, GRF, produces a monotonic oligomer distribution ranging from dimer through hexamer such that the apparent relative amounts of oligomers decrease exponentially with increasing molecular mass. In other experiments, higher oligomers also could be visualized7. The exact number and relative intensities of oligomer bands may vary somewhat among experiments depending on the actual protein concentration, the amount of protein loaded on the gel, and the time used for the development step in the silver-staining protocol.

<ol>
	<li>Bitan, G. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Structural+study+of+metastable+amyloidogenic+protein+oligomers+by+photo-induced+cross-linking+of+unmodified+proteins.">Structural study of metastable amyloidogenic protein oligomers by photo-induced cross-linking of unmodified proteins.</a> Methods Enzymol. 413, 217-236 (2006).</li><li>Fancy, D. A., Kodadek, T. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Chemistry+for+the+analysis+of+protein-protein+interactions:+rapid+and+efficient+cross-linking+triggered+by+long+wavelength+light.">Chemistry for the analysis of protein-protein interactions: rapid and efficient cross-linking triggered by long wavelength light.</a> Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 96, 6020-6024 (1999).</li><li>Kluger, R., Alagic, A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Chemical+cross-linking+and+protein-protein+interactions&#8212;a+review+with+illustrative+protocols.">Chemical cross-linking and protein-protein interactions&#8212;a review with illustrative protocols.</a> Bioorg. Chem. 32, 451-472 (2004).</li><li>Tomohiro, T., Hashimoto, M., Hatanaka, Y. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Cross-linking+chemistry+and+biology:+development+of+multifunctional+photoaffinity+probes.">Cross-linking chemistry and biology: development of multifunctional photoaffinity probes.</a> Chem. Rec. 5, 385-395 (2005).</li><li>Bitan, G., Fradinger, E. A., Spring, S. M., Teplow, D. B. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Neurotoxic+protein+oligomers&#8212;what+you+see+is+not+always+what+you+get.">Neurotoxic protein oligomers&#8212;what you see is not always what you get.</a> Amyloid. 12, 88-95 (2005).</li><li>Bitan, G., Teplow, D. B. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Preparation+of+aggregate-free,+low+molecular+weight+amyloid-&#946;+for+assembly+and+toxicity+assays.">Preparation of aggregate-free, low molecular weight amyloid-&#946; for assembly and toxicity assays.</a> Methods Mol. Biol. 299, 3-9 (2005).</li><li>Bitan, G., Lomakin, A., Teplow, D. B. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Amyloid+&#946;-protein+oligomerization:+prenucleation+interactions+revealed+by+photo-induced+cross-linking+of+unmodified+proteins.">Amyloid &#946;-protein oligomerization: prenucleation interactions revealed by photo-induced cross-linking of unmodified proteins.</a> J. Biol. Chem. 276, 35176-35184 (2001).</li><li>Bitan, G., Kirkitadze, M. D., Lomakin, A., Vollers, S. S., Benedek, G. B., Teplow, D. B. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Amyloid+&#946;-protein+(A&#946;)+assembly:+A&#946;40+and+A&#946;42+oligomerize+through+distinct+pathways.">Amyloid &#946;-protein (A&#946;) assembly: A&#946;40 and A&#946;42 oligomerize through distinct pathways.</a> Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 100, 330-335 (2003).</li><li>Hepler, R. W., Grimm, K. M., Nahas, D. D., Breese, R., Dodson, E. C., Acton, P., Keller, P. M., Yeager, M., Wang, H., Shughrue, P., Kinney, G., Joyce, J. G. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Solution+state+characterization+of+amyloid+&#946;-derived+diffusible+ligands.">Solution state characterization of amyloid &#946;-derived diffusible ligands.</a> Biochemistry (Mosc). 45, 15157-15167 (2006).</li><li>Bitan, G., Teplow, D. B. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Rapid+photochemical+cross-linking&#8212;a+new+tool+for+studies+of+metastable,+amyloidogenic+protein+assemblies).">Rapid photochemical cross-linking&#8212;a new tool for studies of metastable, amyloidogenic protein assemblies).</a> Acc. Chem. Res. 37, 357-364 (2004).</li><li>Piening, N., Weber, P., Hogen, T., Beekes, M., Kretzschmar, H., Giese, A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Photo-induced+crosslinking+of+prion+protein+oligomers+and+prions.">Photo-induced crosslinking of prion protein oligomers and prions.</a> Amyloid. 13, 67-77 (2006).</li><li>Li, H. T., Lin, X. J., Xie, Y. Y., Hu, H. Y. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+early+events+of+&#945;-synuclein+oligomerization+revealed+by+photo-induced+cross-linking.">The early events of &#945;-synuclein oligomerization revealed by photo-induced cross-linking.</a> Protein Pept. Lett. 13, 385-390 (2006).</li><li>Vollers, S. S., Teplow, D. B., Bitan, G. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Determination+of+Peptide+oligomerization+state+using+rapid+photochemical+crosslinking.">Determination of Peptide oligomerization state using rapid photochemical crosslinking.</a> Methods Mol. Biol. 299, 11-18 (2005).</li></ol>

PICUP was developed originally to study stable protein complexes2. The method was applied later to quantitative study of metastable amyloid protein assemblies, including A&beta;10, prion and disease-associated PrPSc 11, and &alpha;-synuclein12. The most important factors that must be considered when designing a PICUP experiment are the reagent stoichiometry, irradiation time, and sample preparation procedure. The former two issues may require empirical optimization, whereas the...

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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">	
		
		<div>
		<table border="1">
		<thead>
		<tr>
		<th>Material Name</th>
		<th>Type</th>
		<th>Company</th>
		<th>Catalogue Number</th>
		<th>Comment</th>
		</tr>
		</thead>
		<tbody>
		
<tr>
<td>Dolan-Jenner 200-W incandescent lamp</td>
<td>Other</td>
<td>Dolan-Jenner Industries</td>
<td>Model 170-D</td>
<td>The heat generated by the lamp does not affect samples for short incubation periods.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>35-mm SLR camera body</td>
<td>Tool</td>
<td>Pentax</td>
<td>SP500 model</td>
<td>In our settings, a bellows is attached to the body of the camera to provide a convenient chamber for irradiation of the sample placed 10 cm away from the light source.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Clear, thin walled PCR tubes</td>
<td>Other</td>
<td>Eppendorf</td>
<td>951010006 supplied by Fisher L22-003-24</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>Glass vials (1.8 mL)</td>
<td>Other</td>
<td>Kimble Chromatography</td>
<td>60940A 2, supplied by Fisher 03-340-60</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>GRF</td>
<td>Reagent</td>
<td>Bachem</td>
<td>H-3695</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>HFIP</td>
<td>Reagent</td>
<td>TCI America</td>
<td>H0424</td>
<td>Use in a fume hood.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>A&beta;40 and A&beta;42</td>
<td>Reagent</td>
<td>UCLA Biopolymers Laboratory</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>Calcitonin</td>
<td>Reagent</td>
<td>American Peptide</td>
<td>22-1-10</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>Tris(2,2-bipridyl)dichlororuthenium(II) hexahydrate</td>
<td>Reagent</td>
<td>Sigma</td>
<td>224758-1G</td>
<td>Vortex until the solution is clear. Cover the RuBpy tube with foil to protect the reagent from ambient light. RuBpy is prepared freshly each time and should be used within 48 h.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Ammonium persulfate</td>
<td>Reagent</td>
<td>Sigma</td>
<td>A-7460</td>
<td>Vortex until the solution is clear. APS is prepared freshly each time and should be used within 48 h. </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>&beta;-mercaptoethanol</td>
<td>Reagent</td>
<td>Sigma</td>
<td>M7154-25 ML</td>
<td>Can be used when SDS-PAGE analysis is performed.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Novex Tricine SDS Sample Buffer (2x)</td>
<td>Reagent</td>
<td>Invitrogen</td>
<td>LC1676</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>XCell SureLock Mini-Cell</td>
<td>Tool</td>
<td>Invitrogen</td>
<td>EI0001</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>Novex Tricine Gels (10-20%)</td>
<td>Other</td>
<td>Invitrogen</td>
<td>EC6625B0X</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>Novex Tricine SDS Running Buffer (10x )</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>Invitrogen</td>
<td>LC1675</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>Silver Express Staining Kit</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>Invitrogen</td>
<td>LC6100</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>		</tbody>
		</table>
		</div>

photo-induced cross-linking of unmodified proteins (picup) applied to amyloidogenic peptides

The assembly of amyloidogenic proteins into toxic oligomers is a seminal event in the pathogenesis of protein misfolding diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's diseases, hereditary amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and type 2 diabetes. Owing to the metastable nature of these protein assemblies, it is difficult to assess their oligomer size distribution quantitatively using classical methods, such as electrophoresis, chromatography, fluorescence, or dynamic light scattering. Oligomers of amyloidogenic proteins exist as metastable mixtures, in which the oligomers dissociate into monomers and associate into larger assemblies simultaneously. PICUP stabilizes oligomer populations by covalent cross-linking and when combined with fractionation methods, such as sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) or size-exclusion chromatography (SEC), PICUP provides snapshots of the oligomer size distributions that existed before cross-linking. Hence, PICUP enables visualization and quantitative analysis of metastable protein populations and can be used to monitor assembly and decipher relationships between sequence modifications and oligomerization1. Mechanistically, PICUP involves photo-oxidation of Ru2+ in a tris(bipyridyl)Ru(II) complex (RuBpy) to Ru3+ by irradiation with visible light in the presence of an electron acceptor. Ru3+ is a strong one-electron oxidizer capable of abstracting an electron from a neighboring protein molecule, generating a protein radical1,2. Radicals are unstable, highly-reactive species and therefore disappear rapidly through a variety of intra- and intermolecular reactions. A radical may utilize the high energy of an unpaired electron to react with another protein monomer forming a dimeric radical, which subsequently loses a hydrogen atom and forms a stable, covalently-linked dimer. The dimer may then react further through a similar mechanism with monomers or other dimers to form higher-order oligomers. Advantages of PICUP relative to other photo- or chemical cross-linking methods3,4 include short (&#8804;1 s) exposure to non-destructive visible light, no need for pre facto modification of the native sequence, and zero-length covalent cross-linking. In addition, PICUP enables cross-linking of proteins within wide pH and temperature ranges, including physiologic parameters. Here, we demonstrate application of PICUP to cross-linking of three amyloidogenic proteins the 40- and 42-residue amyloid &beta;-protein variants (A&beta;40 and A&beta;42), and calcitonin, and a control protein, growth-hormone releasing factor (GRF).

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Photo-Induced Cross-Linking of Unmodified Proteins PICUP Applied to Amyloidogenic Peptides at JoVE.com

Photo-Induced Cross-Linking of Unmodified Proteins PICUP Applied to Amyloidogenic Peptides

Photo-induced cross-linking of unmodified proteins (PICUP) allows characterization of oligomer size distribution in metastable protein mixtures. We demonstrate application of PICUP to three representative amyloidogenic peptides the 40- and 42-residue forms of amyloid &beta;-protein, and calcitonin, and a control peptide growth-hormone releasing factor.

Photo-Induced Cross-Linking of Unmodified Proteins (PICUP) Applied to Amyloidogenic Peptides

The assembly of amyloidogenic proteins into toxic oligomers is a seminal event in the pathogenesis of protein misfolding diseases, including Alzheimer's, ...

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21.3K Views.  University of California, Los Angeles. Foto-indotta cross-linking delle proteine ​​non modificato (PICUP) permette la caratterizzazione della distribuzione dimensionale oligomeri in miscele proteiche metastabili. Dimostriamo applicazione di PICUP a tre peptidi rappresentante amiloidogenico il 40 - e 42-residuo forme di β-amiloide, proteina, e la calcitonina, e un peptide di controllo della crescita-fattore di rilascio dell'ormone.

Video: Photo-Induced Cross-Linking of Unmodified Proteins PICUP Applied to Amyloidogenic Peptides

Electrophoretic Separation of Proteins

Electrophoresis is used to separate complex mixtures of proteins (e.g., from cells, subcellular fractions, column fractions, or immunoprecipitates), to investigate subunit compositions, and to verify homogeneity of protein samples. It can also serve to purify proteins for use in further applications. In polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, proteins migrate in response to an electrical field through pores in a polyacrylamide gel matrix; pore size decreases with increasing acrylamide concentration. The combination of pore size and protein charge, size, and shape determines the migration rate of the protein. In this unit, the standard Laemmli method is described for discontinuous gel electrophoresis under denaturing conditions, i.e., in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). 

In this video, we demonstrate a method for electrophoretic separation of proteins using poly-acrylimide gel electrophoresis (PAGE).

Electrophoresis is used to separate complex mixtures of proteins (e.g., from cells, subcellular fractions, column fractions, or immunoprecipitates), to ...

Staining Proteins in Gels

Following separation by electrophoretic methods, proteins in a gel can be detected by several staining methods. This unit describes protocols for detecting proteins by four popular methods. Coomassie blue staining is an easy and rapid method. Silver staining, while more time consuming, is considerably more sensitive and can thus be used to detect smaller amounts of protein. Fluorescent staining is a popular alternative to traditional staining procedures, mainly because it is more sensitive than Coomassie staining, and is often as sensitive as silver staining. Staining of proteins with SYPRO Orange and SYPRO Ruby are also demonstrated here.

Following separation by electrophoretic methods, proteins in a gel can be detected by several staining methods. Staining of proteins with Coomassie Blue, Silver Staining, SYPRO Orange, SYPRO Ruby are demonstrated in this video.

Following separation by electrophoretic methods, proteins in a gel can be detected by several staining methods. This unit describes protocols for ...

A Lectin HPLC Method to Enrich Selectively-glycosylated Peptides from Complex Biological Samples

Glycans are an important class of post-translational modifications. Typically found on secreted and extracellular molecules, glycan structures signal the internal status of the cell. Glycans on tumor cells tend to have abundant sialic acid and fucose moieties. We propose that these cancer-associated glycan variants be exploited for biomarker development aimed at diagnosing early-stage disease. Accordingly, we developed a mass spectrometry-based workflow that incorporates chromatography on affinity matrices formed from lectins, proteins that bind specific glycan structures. The lectins Sambucus nigra (SNA) and Aleuria aurantia (AAL), which bind sialic acid and fucose, respectively, were covalently coupled to POROS beads (Applied Biosystems) and packed into PEEK columns for high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Briefly, plasma was depleted of the fourteen most abundant proteins using a multiple affinity removal system (MARS-14; Agilent). Depleted plasma was trypsin-digested and separated into flow-through and bound fractions by SNA or AAL HPLC. The fractions were treated with PNGaseF to remove N-linked glycans, and analyzed by LC-MS/MS on a QStar Elite. Data were analyzed using Mascot software. The experimental design included positive controls&mdash;fucosylated and sialylated human lactoferrin glycopeptides&mdash;and negative controls&mdash;high mannose glycopeptides from Saccharomyces cerevisiae&mdash;that were used to monitor the specificity of lectin capture. Key features of this workflow include the reproducibility derived from the HPLC format, the positive identification of the captured and PNGaseF-treated glycopeptides from their deamidated Asn-Xxx-Ser/Thr motifs, and quality assessment using glycoprotein standards. Protocol optimization also included determining the appropriate ratio of starting material to column capacity, identifying the most efficient capture and elution buffers, and monitoring the PNGaseF-treatment to ensure full deglycosylation. Future directions include using this workflow to perform mass spectrometry-based discovery experiments on plasma from breast cancer patients and control individuals.

Lectin-conjugated POROS beads were employed for HPLC. Glycopeptide standards served as positive and negative controls. MARS-14 depleted, trypsin-digested human plasma was chromatographed and flow-through (FT) and bound fractions collected for ESI-LC-MS/MS analyses. Glycopeptides were enriched in the bound fraction as compared to FT.

Glycans are an important class of post-translational modifications. Typically found on secreted and extracellular molecules, glycan structures signal the ...

Isolation of Labile Multi-protein Complexes by in vivo Controlled Cellular Cross-Linking and Immuno-magnetic Affinity Chromatography

The dynamic nature of cellular machineries is frequently built on transient and/or weak protein associations. These low affinity interactions preclude stringent methods for the isolation and identification of protein networks around a protein of interest. The use of chemical crosslinkers allows the selective stabilization of labile interactions, thus bypassing biochemical limitations for purification. Here we present a protocol amenable for cells in culture that uses a homobifunctional crosslinker with a spacer arm of 12 &Aring;, dithiobis-(succinimidyl proprionate) (DSP). DSP is cleaved by reduction of a disulphide bond present in the molecule. Cross-linking combined with immunoaffinity chromatography of proteins of interest with magnetic beads allows the isolation of protein complexes that otherwise would not withstand purification. This protocol is compatible with regular western blot techniques and it can be scaled up for protein identification by mass spectrometry1.
Stephanie A. Zlatic and Pearl V. Ryder contributed equally to this work.

Isolation of Labile Multi-protein Complexes by in vivo Controlled Cellular Cross-Linking and Immuno-magnetic Affinity Chromatography

The cell permeable crosslinker DSP [dithiobis-(succinimidyl propionate)] stabilizes transient and labile interactions in vivo, which allows their isolation using stringent protein complex purification techniques. Here we present a technique for crosslinking cells grown in culture followed by isolation of protein complexes by immunoprecipitation.

The dynamic nature of cellular machineries is frequently built on transient and/or weak protein associations. These low affinity interactions preclude ...

Laser Microdissection Applied to Gene Expression Profiling of Subset of Cells from the Drosophila Wing Disc

Heterogeneous nature of tissues has proven to be a limiting factor in the amount of information that can be generated from biological samples, compromising downstream analyses. Considering the complex and dynamic cellular associations existing within many tissues, in order to recapitulate the in vivo interactions thorough molecular analysis one must be able to analyze specific cell populations within their native context. Laser-mediated microdissection can achieve this goal, allowing unambiguous identification and successful harvest of cells of interest under direct microscopic visualization while maintaining molecular integrity. We have applied this technology to analyse gene expression within defined areas of the developing Drosophila wing disc, which represents an advantageous model system to study growth control, cell differentiation and organogenesis. Larval imaginal discs are precociously subdivided into anterior and posterior, dorsal and ventral compartments by lineage restriction boundaries. Making use of the inducible GAL4-UAS binary expression system, each of these compartments can be specifically labelled in transgenic flies expressing an UAS-GFP transgene under the control of the appropriate GAL4-driver construct. In the transgenic discs, gene expression profiling of discrete subsets of cells can precisely be determined after laser-mediated microdissection, using the fluorescent GFP signal to guide laser cut. 
Among the variety of downstream applications, we focused on RNA transcript profiling after localised RNA interference (RNAi). With the advent of RNAi technology, GFP labelling can be coupled with localised knockdown of a given gene, allowing to determinate the transcriptional response of a discrete cell population to the specific gene silencing. To validate this approach, we dissected equivalent areas of the disc from the posterior (labelled by GFP expression), and the anterior (unlabelled) compartment upon regional silencing in the P compartment of an otherwise ubiquitously expressed gene. RNA was extracted from microdissected silenced and unsilenced areas and comparative gene expression profiling determined by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. We show that this method can effectively be applied for accurate transcriptomics of subsets of cells within the Drosophila imaginal discs. Indeed, while massive disc preparation as source of RNA generally assumes cell homogeneity, it is well known that transcriptional expression can vary greatly within these structures in consequence of positional information. Using localized fluorescent GFP signal to guide laser cut, more accurate transcriptional analyses can be performed and profitably applied to disparate applications, including transcript profiling of distinct cell lineages within their native context.

Laser Microdissection Applied to Gene Expression Profiling of Subset of Cells from the Drosophila Wing Disc

Laser microdissection was applied to analyse gene expression profiling in specific compartments of Drosophila wing disc subjected to localised RNAi in vivo. RNA extracted from equivalent areas of silenced and unsilenced compartments was analysed by quantitative RT-PCR to determine comparative gene expression profiling within the context of native tissue microecology.

Heterogeneous nature of tissues has proven to be a limiting factor in the amount of information that can be generated from biological samples, ...

Determining the Contribution of the Energy Systems During Exercise

One of the most important aspects of the metabolic demand is the relative contribution of the energy systems to the total energy required for a given physical activity. Although some sports are relatively easy to be reproduced in a laboratory (e.g., running and cycling), a number of sports are much more difficult to be reproduced and studied in controlled situations. This method presents how to assess the differential contribution of the energy systems in sports that are difficult to mimic in controlled laboratory conditions. The concepts shown here can be adapted to virtually any sport.
The following physiologic variables will be needed: rest oxygen consumption, exercise oxygen consumption, post-exercise oxygen consumption, rest plasma lactate concentration and post-exercise plasma peak lactate. To calculate the contribution of the aerobic metabolism, you will need the oxygen consumption at rest and during the exercise. By using the trapezoidal method, calculate the area under the curve of oxygen consumption during exercise, subtracting the area corresponding to the rest oxygen consumption. To calculate the contribution of the alactic anaerobic metabolism, the post-exercise oxygen consumption curve has to be adjusted to a mono or a bi-exponential model (chosen by the one that best fits). Then, use the terms of the fitted equation to calculate anaerobic alactic metabolism, as follows: ATP-CP metabolism = A1 (mL . s-1) x t1 (s). Finally, to calculate the contribution of the lactic anaerobic system, multiply peak plasma lactate by 3 and by the athlete&#x2019;s body mass (the result in mL is then converted to L and into kJ).
The method can be used for both continuous and intermittent exercise. This is a very interesting approach as it can be adapted to exercises and sports that are difficult to be mimicked in controlled environments. Also, this is the only available method capable of distinguishing the contribution of three different energy systems. Thus, the method allows the study of sports with great similarity to real situations, providing desirable ecological validity to the study.

This protocol allows researchers focused on exercise and sports sciences to determine the relative contribution of three different energy systems to the total energy expenditure during a large variety of exercises.

One of the most important aspects of the metabolic demand is the relative contribution of the energy systems to the total energy required for a given ...

High Throughput Quantitative Expression Screening and Purification Applied to Recombinant Disulfide-rich Venom Proteins Produced in E. coli

Escherichia coli (E. coli) is the most widely used expression system for the production of recombinant proteins for structural and functional studies. However, purifying proteins is sometimes challenging since many proteins are expressed in an insoluble form. When working with difficult or multiple targets it is therefore recommended to use high throughput (HTP) protein expression screening on a small scale (1-4&#160;ml cultures) to quickly identify conditions for soluble expression. To cope with the various structural genomics programs of the lab, a quantitative (within a range of 0.1-100 mg/L culture of recombinant protein) and HTP protein expression screening protocol was implemented and validated on thousands of proteins. The protocols were automated with the use of a liquid handling robot but can also be performed manually without specialized equipment.
Disulfide-rich venom proteins are gaining increasing recognition for their potential as therapeutic drug leads. They can be highly potent and selective, but their complex disulfide bond networks make them challenging to produce. As a member of the FP7 European Venomics project (<a href="http://www.venomics.eu">www.venomics.eu</a>), our challenge is to develop successful production strategies with the aim of producing thousands of novel venom proteins for functional characterization. Aided by the redox properties of disulfide bond isomerase DsbC, we adapted our HTP production pipeline for the expression of oxidized, functional venom peptides in the E. coli cytoplasm. The protocols are also applicable to the production of diverse disulfide-rich proteins. Here we demonstrate our pipeline applied to the production of animal venom proteins. With the protocols described herein it is likely that soluble disulfide-rich proteins will be obtained in as little as a week. Even from a small scale, there is the potential to use the purified proteins for validating the oxidation state by mass spectrometry, for characterization in pilot studies, or for sensitive micro-assays.

High Throughput Quantitative Expression Screening and Purification Applied to Recombinant Disulfide-rich Venom Proteins Produced in E. coli

A protocol for the quantitative, high throughput expression screening and analytical purification of fusion proteins from small-scale Escherichia coli cultures is described and applied to the expression of disulfide-rich animal venom protein targets.

Escherichia coli (E. coli) is the most widely used expression system for the production of recombinant proteins for structural and functional studies. ...

Non-chromatographic Purification of Recombinant Elastin-like Polypeptides and their Fusions with Peptides and Proteins from Escherichia coli

Elastin-like polypeptides are repetitive biopolymers that exhibit a lower critical solution temperature phase transition behavior, existing as soluble unimers below a characteristic transition temperature and aggregating into micron-scale coacervates above their transition temperature. The design of elastin-like polypeptides at the genetic level permits precise control of their sequence and length, which dictates their thermal properties. Elastin-like polypeptides are used in a variety of applications including biosensing, tissue engineering, and drug delivery, where the transition temperature and biopolymer architecture of the ELP can be tuned for the specific application of interest. Furthermore, the lower critical solution temperature phase transition behavior of elastin-like polypeptides allows their purification by their thermal response, such that their selective coacervation and resolubilization allows the removal of both soluble and insoluble contaminants following expression in Escherichia coli. This approach can be used for the purification of elastin-like polypeptides alone or as a purification tool for peptide or protein fusions where recombinant peptides or proteins genetically appended to elastin-like polypeptide tags can be purified without chromatography. This protocol describes the purification of elastin-like polypeptides and their peptide or protein fusions and discusses basic characterization techniques to assess the thermal behavior of pure elastin-like polypeptide products.

Non-chromatographic Purification of Recombinant Elastin-like Polypeptides and their Fusions with Peptides and Proteins from Escherichia coli

Elastin-like polypeptides are stimulus-responsive biopolymers with applications ranging from recombinant protein purification to drug delivery. This protocol describes the purification and characterization of elastin-like polypeptides and their peptide or protein fusions from Escherichia coli using their lower critical solution temperature phase transition behavior as a simple alternative to chromatography.

Elastin-like polypeptides are repetitive biopolymers that exhibit a lower critical solution temperature phase transition behavior, existing as soluble ...

Use of MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry and a Custom Database to Characterize Bacteria Indigenous to a Unique Cave Environment (Kartchner Caverns, AZ, USA)

MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry has been shown to be a rapid and reliable tool for identification of bacteria at the genus and species, and in some cases, strain levels. Commercially available and open source software tools have been developed to facilitate identification; however, no universal/standardized data analysis pipeline has been described in the literature. Here, we provide a comprehensive and detailed demonstration of bacterial identification procedures using a MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer. Mass spectra were collected from 15 diverse bacteria isolated from Kartchner Caverns, AZ, USA, and identified by 16S rDNA sequencing. Databases were constructed in BioNumerics 7.1. Follow-up analyses of mass spectra were performed, including cluster analyses, peak matching, and statistical analyses. Identification was performed using blind-coded samples randomly selected from these 15 bacteria. Two identification methods are presented: similarity coefficient-based and biomarker-based methods. Results show that both identification methods can identify the bacteria to the species level.

Use of MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry and a Custom Database to Characterize Bacteria Indigenous to a Unique Cave Environment Kartchner Caverns, AZ, USA

This work details procedures for rapid identification of bacteria using MALDI-TOF MS. The identification procedures include spectrum acquisition, database construction, and follow up analyses. Two identification methods, similarity coefficient-based and biomarker-based methods, are presented.

MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry has been shown to be a rapid and reliable tool for identification of bacteria at the genus and species, and in some cases, ...

A Method for Selecting Structure-switching Aptamers Applied to a Colorimetric Gold Nanoparticle Assay

Small molecules provide rich targets for biosensing applications due to their physiological implications as biomarkers of various aspects of human health and performance. Nucleic acid aptamers have been increasingly applied as recognition elements on biosensor platforms, but selecting aptamers toward small molecule targets requires special design considerations. This work describes modification and critical steps of a method designed to select structure-switching aptamers to small molecule targets. Binding sequences from a DNA library hybridized to complementary DNA capture probes on magnetic beads are separated from nonbinders via a target-induced change in conformation. This method is advantageous because sequences binding the support matrix (beads) will not be further amplified, and it does not require immobilization of the target molecule. However, the melting temperature of the capture probe and library is kept at or slightly above RT, such that sequences that dehybridize based on thermodynamics will also be present in the supernatant solution. This effectively limits the partitioning efficiency (ability to separate target binding sequences from nonbinders), and therefore many selection rounds will be required to remove background sequences. The reported method differs from previous structure-switching aptamer selections due to implementation of negative selection steps, simplified enrichment monitoring, and extension of the length of the capture probe following selection enrichment to provide enhanced stringency. The selected structure-switching aptamers are advantageous in a gold nanoparticle assay platform that reports the presence of a target molecule by the conformational change of the aptamer. The gold nanoparticle assay was applied because it provides a simple, rapid colorimetric readout that is beneficial in a clinical or deployed environment. Design and optimization considerations are presented for the assay as proof-of-principle work in buffer to provide a foundation for further extension of the work toward small molecule biosensing in physiological fluids.

A protocol is provided to select structure-switching aptamers for small molecule targets based on a tunable stringency magnetic bead selection method. Aptamers selected with structure-switching properties are beneficial for assays that require a conformational change to signal the presence of a target, such as the described gold nanoparticle assay.

Small molecules provide rich targets for biosensing applications due to their physiological implications as biomarkers of various aspects of human health ...