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The identification of peptides is a cornerstone of mass spectrometry-based proteomics. Spectral library-based algorithms are well-established methods to enhance the identification efficiency of peptides during database searches in proteomics. However, these algorithms are not specifically tailored for tandem mass tag (TMT)-based proteomics due to the lack of high-quality TMT spectral libraries. Here, we introduce JUMPlib, a computational tool for a TMT-based spectral library search. JUMPlib comprises components for generating spectral libraries, conducting library searches, filtering peptide identifications, and quantifying peptides and proteins. Fragment ion indexing in the libraries increases the search speed and utilizing the experimental retention time of precursor ions improves peptide identification. We found that methionine oxidation is a major factor contributing to large shifts in peptide retention time. To test the JUMPlib program, we curated two comprehensive human libraries for the labeling of TMT6/10/11 and TMT16/18 reagents, with ∼286,000 precursor ions and ∼304,000 precursor ions, respectively. Our analyses demonstrate that JUMPlib, employing the fragment ion index strategy, enhances search speed and exhibits high sensitivity and specificity, achieving approximately a 25% increase in peptide-spectrum matches compared to other search tools. Overall, JUMPlib serves as a streamlined computational platform designed to enhance peptide identification in TMT-based proteomics. Both the JUMPlib source code and libraries are publicly available.

Tandem mass tag (TMT)-based mass spectrometry (MS) enables deep proteomic profiling of more than 10,000 proteins in complex biological samples but requires up to 100 μg protein in starting materials during a standard analysis. Here, we present a streamlined protocol to quantify more than 9000 proteins with 0.5 μg protein per sample by 16-plex TMT coupled with two-dimensional liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (LC/LC-MS/MS). In this protocol, we optimized multiple conditions to reduce sample loss, including processing each sample in a single tube to minimize surface adsorption, increasing digestion enzymes to shorten proteolysis and function as carriers, eliminating a desalting step between digestion and TMT labeling, and developing miniaturized basic pH LC for prefractionation. By profiling 16 identical human brain tissue samples of Alzheimer's disease (AD), vascular dementia (VaD), and non-dementia controls, we directly compared this new microgram-scale protocol to the standard-scale protocol, quantifying 9116 and 10,869 proteins, respectively. Importantly, bioinformatics analysis indicated that the microgram-scale protocol had adequate sensitivity and reproducibility to detect differentially expressed proteins in disease-related pathways. Thus, this newly developed protocol is of general application for deep proteomics analysis of biological and clinical samples at sub-microgram levels.

The accumulation of pathologic protein fragments is common in neurodegenerative disorders. We have recently identified in Alzheimer's disease (AD) the aggregation of the U1-70K splicing factor and abnormal RNA processing. Here, we present that U1-70K can be cleaved into an N-terminal truncation (N40K) in ∼50% of AD cases, and the N40K abundance is inversely proportional to the total level of U1-70K. To map the cleavage site, we compared tryptic peptides of N40K and stable isotope labeled U1-70K by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (MS), revealing that the proteolysis site is located in a highly repetitive and hydrophilic domain of U1-70K. We then adapted Western blotting to map the cleavage site in two steps: (i) mass spectrometric analysis revealing that U1-70K and N40K share the same N-termini and contain no major modifications; (ii) matching N40K with a series of six recombinant U1-70K truncations to define the cleavage site within a small region (Arg300 ± 6 residues). Finally, N40K expression led to substantial degeneration of rat primary hippocampal neurons. In summary, we combined multiple approaches to identify the U1-70K proteolytic site and found that the N40K fragment might contribute to neuronal toxicity in Alzheimer's disease.

TDP-43 is a highly conserved and ubiquitously expressed member of the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) family of proteins. Recently, TDP-43 was shown to be a major disease protein in the ubiquitinated inclusions characteristic of most cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), tau-negative frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), and inclusion body myopathy. In these diseases, TDP-43 is redistributed from its predominantly nuclear location to ubiquitin-positive, cytoplasmic foci. The extent to which TDP-43 drives pathophysiology is unknown, but the identification of mutations in TDP-43 in familial forms of ALS and FTLD-U suggests an important role for this protein in pathogenesis. Little is known about TDP-43 function and only a few TDP-43 interacting proteins have been previously identified, which makes further insight into both the normal and pathological functions of TDP-43 difficult. Here we show, via a global proteomic approach, that TDP-43 has extensive interaction with proteins that regulate RNA metabolism. Some interactions with TDP-43 were found to be dependent on RNA-binding, whereas other interactions are RNA-independent. Disease-causing mutations in TDP-43 (A315T and M337V) do not alter its interaction profile. TDP-43 interacting proteins largely cluster into two distinct interaction networks, a nuclear/splicing cluster and a cytoplasmic/translation cluster, strongly suggesting that TDP-43 has multiple roles in RNA metabolism and functions in both the nucleus and the cytoplasm. Finally, we found numerous TDP-43 interactors that are known components of stress granules, and indeed, we find that TDP-43 is also recruited to stress granules.

Intrinsically disordered proteins are predicted to be highly abundant and play broad biological roles in eukaryotic cells. In particular, by virtue of their structural malleability and propensity to interact with multiple binding partners, disordered proteins are thought to be specialized for roles in signaling and regulation. However, these concepts are based on in silico analyses of translated whole genome sequences, not on large-scale analyses of proteins expressed in living cells. Therefore, whether these concepts broadly apply to expressed proteins is currently unknown. Previous studies have shown that heat-treatment of cell extracts lead to partial enrichment of soluble, disordered proteins. On the basis of this observation, we sought to address the current dearth of knowledge about expressed, disordered proteins by performing a large-scale proteomics study of thermostable proteins isolated from mouse fibroblast cells. With the use of novel multidimensional chromatography methods and mass spectrometry, we identified a total of 1320 thermostable proteins from these cells. Further, we used a variety of bioinformatics methods to analyze the structural and biological properties of these proteins. Interestingly, more than 900 of these expressed proteins were predicted to be substantially disordered. These were divided into two categories, with 514 predicted to be predominantly disordered and 395 predicted to exhibit both disordered and ordered/folded features. In addition, 411 of the thermostable proteins were predicted to be folded. Despite the use of heat treatment (60 min at 98 degrees C) to partially enrich for disordered proteins, which might have been expected to select for small proteins, the sequences of these proteins exhibited a wide range of lengths (622 +/- 555 residues (average length +/- standard deviation) for disordered proteins and 569 +/- 598 residues for folded proteins). Computational structural analyses revealed several unexpected features of the thermostable proteins: (1) disordered domains and coiled-coil domains occurred together in a large number of disordered proteins, suggesting functional interplay between these domains; and (2) more than 170 proteins contained lengthy domains (>300 residues) known to be folded. Reference to Gene Ontology Consortium functional annotations revealed that, while disordered proteins play diverse biological roles in mouse fibroblasts, they do exhibit heightened involvement in several functional categories, including, cytoskeletal structure and cell movement, metabolic and biosynthetic processes, organelle structure, cell division, gene transcription, and ribonucleoprotein complexes. We believe that these results reflect the general properties of the mouse intrinsically disordered proteome (IDP-ome) although they also reflect the specialized physiology of fibroblast cells. Large-scale identification of expressed, thermostable proteins from other cell types in the future, grown under varied physiological conditions, will dramatically expand our understanding of the structural and biological properties of disordered eukaryotic proteins.

Cytokinin hormones are crucial regulators of a large number of processes in plant development. Recently, significant progress has been made toward the elucidation of the molecular details of cytokinin that has led to a model for signal transduction involving a phosphorylation cascade. However, the current knowledge of cytokinin action remains largely unknown and does not explain the different roles of this hormone. To gain further insights into this aspect of cytokinin action and the inducible phosphorelay, we have produced the first large-scale map of a phosphoproteome in the moss Physcomitrella patens. Using a protocol that we recently published (Heintz, D.; et al. Electrophoresis 2004, 25, 1149-1159) that combines IMAC, MALDI-TOF-MS, and LC-MS/MS, a total of 172 phosphopeptide sequences were obtained by a peptide de novo sequencing strategy. Specific P. patens EST and raw genomic databases were interrogated, and protein homology searches resulted in the identification of 112 proteins that were then classified into functional categories. In addition, the temporal dynamics of the phosphoproteome in response to cytokinin stimulation was studied at 2, 4, 6, and 15 min after hormone addition. We identified 13 proteins that were not previously known targets of cytokinin action. Among the responsive proteins, some were involved in metabolism, and several proteins of unknown function were also identified. We have mapped the time course of their activation in response to cytokinin and discussed their hypothetical biological significance. Deciphering these early induced phosphorylation events has shown that the cytokinin effect can be rapid (few minutes), and the duration of this effect can be variable. Also phosphorylation events can be differentially regulated. Taken together our proteomic study provides an enriched look of the multistep phosphorelay system mediating cytokinin response and suggests the existence of a multidirectional interaction between cytokinin and numerous other pathways.