SG00020841

1. Prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) plays an important role in genitourinary function. Multiple enzymes are involved in its biosynthesis. Here we report the genomic structure and tissue-selective expression of cytosolic PGE(2) synthase (cPGES) in genitourinary tissues. Full-length mouse cPGES cDNA was cloned by reverse transcript-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and 5'- and 3'-rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). Analysis of a cPGES cDNA with partially sequenced cPGES genomic clones and bioinformatic databases demonstrates that the murine cPGES gene spans approximately 22 kb and consists of eight exons. The cPGES gene promoter is GC-rich and contains many SP1 sites but lacks an obvious TATA box motif. RNase protection assay revealed constitutive expression of cPGES was greatest in the testis with lower levels in the ovary, kidney, bladder and uterus. In situ hybridization studies demonstrated that cPGES mRNA was most highly expressed in the epithelial cells of seminiferous tubules in the testis. In the female reproductive tissues, cPGES was mainly localized in ovarian primary and secondary follicles and oviductal epithelial cells with less expression in uterine endometrium. In the kidney cPGES expression was diffusely expressed. In urinary bladder, cPGES expression was restricted to the transitional epithelial cells. This expression pattern is consistent with an important role for cPGES-mediated PGE(2) in urogenital tissue function. PMID: [14563409]

2. This study describes comprehensive polling of transcription start and termination sites and analysis of previously unidentified full-length complementary DNAs derived from the mouse genome. We identify the 5' and 3' boundaries of 181,047 transcripts with extensive variation in transcripts arising from alternative promoter usage, splicing, and polyadenylation. There are 16,247 new mouse protein-coding transcripts, including 5154 encoding previously unidentified proteins. Genomic mapping of the transcriptome reveals transcriptional forests, with overlapping transcription on both strands, separated by deserts in which few transcripts are observed. The data provide a comprehensive platform for the comparative analysis of mammalian transcriptional regulation in differentiation and development. PMID: [16141072]

3. The National Institutes of Health's Mammalian Gene Collection (MGC) project was designed to generate and sequence a publicly accessible cDNA resource containing a complete open reading frame (ORF) for every human and mouse gene. The project initially used a random strategy to select clones from a large number of cDNA libraries from diverse tissues. Candidate clones were chosen based on 5'-EST sequences, and then fully sequenced to high accuracy and analyzed by algorithms developed for this project. Currently, more than 11,000 human and 10,000 mouse genes are represented in MGC by at least one clone with a full ORF. The random selection approach is now reaching a saturation point, and a transition to protocols targeted at the missing transcripts is now required to complete the mouse and human collections. Comparison of the sequence of the MGC clones to reference genome sequences reveals that most cDNA clones are of very high sequence quality, although it is likely that some cDNAs may carry missense variants as a consequence of experimental artifact, such as PCR, cloning, or reverse transcriptase errors. Recently, a rat cDNA component was added to the project, and ongoing frog (Xenopus) and zebrafish (Danio) cDNA projects were expanded to take advantage of the high-throughput MGC pipeline. PMID: [15489334]

4. Proper development of the mammalian brain requires the precise integration of numerous temporally and spatially regulated stimuli. Many of these signals transduce their cues via the reversible phosphorylation of downstream effector molecules. Neuronal stimuli acting in concert have the potential of generating enormous arrays of regulatory phosphoproteins. Toward the global profiling of phosphoproteins in the developing brain, we report here the use of a mass spectrometry-based methodology permitting the first proteomic-scale phosphorylation site analysis of primary animal tissue, identifying over 500 protein phosphorylation sites in the developing mouse brain. PMID: [15345747]

5. Since protein phosphorylation is a dominant mechanism of information transfer in cells, there is a great need for methods capable of accurately elucidating sites of phosphorylation. In recent years mass spectrometry has become an increasingly viable alternative to more traditional methods of phosphorylation analysis. The present study used immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) coupled with a linear ion trap mass spectrometer to analyze phosphorylated proteins in mouse liver. A total of 26 peptide sequences defining 26 sites of phosphorylation were determined. Although this number of identified phosphoproteins is not large, the approach is still of interest because a series of conservative criteria were adopted in data analysis. We note that, although the binding of non-phosphorylated peptides to the IMAC column was apparent, the improvements in high-speed scanning and quality of MS/MS spectra provided by the linear ion trap contributed to the phosphoprotein identification. Further analysis demonstrated that MS/MS/MS analysis was necessary to exclude the false-positive matches resulting from the MS/MS experiments, especially for multiphosphorylated peptides. The use of the linear ion trap considerably enabled exploitation of nanoflow-HPLC/MS/MS, and in addition MS/MS/MS has great potential in phosphoproteome research of relatively complex samples. PMID: [15378723]

6. A system which consisted of multidimensional liquid chromatography (Yin-yang MDLC) coupled with mass spectrometry was used for the identification of peptides and phosphopeptides. The multidimensional liquid chromatography combines the strong-cation exchange (SCX), strong-anion exchange (SAX), and reverse-phase methods for the separation. Protein digests were first loaded on an SCX column. The flow-through peptides from SCX were collected and further loaded on an SAX column. Both columns were eluted by offline pH steps, and the collected fractions were identified by reverse-phase liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Comprehensive peptide identification was achieved by the Yin-yang MDLC-MS/MS for a 1 mg mouse liver. In total, 14 105 unique peptides were identified with high confidence, including 13 256 unmodified peptides and 849 phosphopeptides with 809 phosphorylated sites. The SCX and SAX in the Yin-Yang system displayed complementary features of binding and separation for peptides. When coupled with reverse-phase liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, the SAX-based method can detect more extremely acidic (pI < 4.0) and phosphorylated peptides, while the SCX-based method detects more relatively basic peptides (pI > 4.0). In total, 134 groups of phosphorylated peptide isoforms were obtained, with common peptide sequences but different phosphorylated states. This unbiased profiling of protein expression and phosphorylation provides a powerful approach to probe protein dynamics, without using any prefractionation and chemical derivation. PMID: [17203969]

7. Activity-dependent protein phosphorylation is a highly dynamic yet tightly regulated process essential for cellular signaling. Although recognized as critical for neuronal functions, the extent and stoichiometry of phosphorylation in brain cells remain undetermined. In this study, we resolved activity-dependent changes in phosphorylation stoichiometry at specific sites in distinct subcellular compartments of brain cells. Following highly sensitive phosphopeptide enrichment using immobilized metal affinity chromatography and mass spectrometry, we isolated and identified 974 unique phosphorylation sites on 499 proteins, many of which are novel. To further explore the significance of specific phosphorylation sites, we used isobaric peptide labels and determined the absolute quantity of both phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated peptides of candidate phosphoproteins and estimated phosphorylation stoichiometry. The analyses of phosphorylation dynamics using differentially stimulated synaptic terminal preparations revealed activity-dependent changes in phosphorylation stoichiometry of target proteins. Using this method, we were able to differentiate between distinct isoforms of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaMKII) and identify a novel activity-regulated phosphorylation site on the glutamate receptor subunit GluR1. Together these data illustrate that mass spectrometry-based methods can be used to determine activity-dependent changes in phosphorylation stoichiometry on candidate phosphopeptides following large scale phosphoproteome analysis of brain tissue. PMID: [17114649]

8. The elucidation of protein post-translational modifications, such as phosphorylation, remains a challenging analytical task for proteomic studies. Since many of the proteins targeted for phosphorylation are low in abundance and phosphorylation is typically substoichiometric, a prerequisite for their identification is the specific enrichment of phosphopeptide prior to mass spectrometric analysis. Here, we presented a new method termed as immobilized titanium ion affinity chromatography (Ti (4+)-IMAC) for enriching phosphopeptides. A phosphate polymer, which was prepared by direct polymerization of monomers containing phosphate groups, was applied to immobilize Ti (4+) through the chelating interaction between phosphate groups on the polymer and Ti (4+). The resulting Ti (4+)-IMAC resin specifically isolates phosphopeptides from a digest mixture of standard phosphoproteins and nonphosphoprotein (BSA) in a ratio as low as 1:500. Ti (4+)-IMAC was further applied for phosphoproteome analysis of mouse liver. We also compared Ti (4+)-IMAC to other enrichment methods including Fe (3+)-IMAC, Zr (4+)-IMAC, TiO 2 and ZrO 2, and demonstrate superior selectivity and efficiency of Ti (4+)-IMAC for the isolation and enrichment of phosphopeptides. The high specificity and efficiency of phosphopeptide enrichment by Ti (4+)-IMAC mainly resulted from the flexibility of immobilized titanium ion with spacer arm linked to polymer beads as well as the specific interaction between immobilized titanium ion and phosphate group on phosphopeptides. PMID: [18630941]

9. Kinases play a prominent role in tumor development, pointing to the presence of specific phosphorylation patterns in tumor tissues. Here, we investigate whether recently developed high resolution mass spectrometric (MS) methods for proteome and phosphoproteome analysis can also be applied to solid tumors. As tumor model, we used TG3 mutant mice carrying skin melanomas. At total of 100 microg of solid tumor lysate yielded a melanoma proteome of 4443 identified proteins, including at least 88 putative melanoma markers previously found by cDNA microarray technology. Analysis of 2 mg of lysate from dissected melanoma with titansphere chromatography and 8 mg with strong cation exchange together resulted in the identification of more than 5600 phosphorylation sites on 2250 proteins. The phosphoproteome included many hits from pathways important in melanoma. One-month storage at -80 degrees C did not significantly decrease the number of identified phosphorylation sites. Thus, solid tumor can be analyzed by MS-based proteomics with similar efficiency as cell culture models and in amounts compatible with biopsies. PMID: [19367708]

10. The ability of macrophages to clear pathogens and elicit a sustained immune response is regulated by various cytokines, including interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma). To investigate the molecular mechanisms by which IFN-gamma modulates phagosome functions, we profiled the changes in composition, abundance, and phosphorylation of phagosome proteins in resting and activated macrophages by using quantitative proteomics and bioinformatics approaches. We identified 2415 phagosome proteins together with 2975 unique phosphorylation sites with a high level of sensitivity. Using network analyses, we determined that IFN-gamma delays phagosomal acquisition of lysosomal hydrolases and peptidases for the gain of antigen presentation. Furthermore, this gain in antigen presentation is dependent on phagosomal networks of the actin cytoskeleton and vesicle-trafficking proteins, as well as Src kinases and calpain proteases. Major histocompatibility complex class I antigen-presentation assays validated the molecular participation of these networks in the enhanced capacity of IFN-gamma-activated macrophages to crosspresent exogenous antigens to CD8(+) T cells. PMID: [19144319]