Quantitative proteome analysis using differential stable isotopic labeling and microbore LC-MALDI MS and MS/MS

We demonstrate an approach for global quantitative analysis of protein mixtures using differential stable isotopic labeling of the enzyme-digested peptides combined with microbore liquid chromatography (LC) matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry (MS). Microbore LC provides higher sample loading, compared to capillary LC, which facilitates the quantification of low abundance proteins in protein mixtures. In this work, microbore LC is combined with MALDI MS via a heated droplet interface. The compatibilities of two global peptide labeling methods (i.e., esterification to carboxylic groups and dimethylation to amine groups of peptides) with this LC-MALDI technique are evaluated. Using a quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometer, MALDI spectra of the peptides in individual sample spots are obtained to determine the abundance ratio among pairs of differential isotopically labeled peptides. MS/MS spectra are subsequently obtained from the peptide pairs showing significant abundance differences to determine the sequences of selected peptides for protein identification. The peptide sequences determined from MS/MS database search are confirmed by using the overlaid fragment ion spectra generated from a pair of differentially labeled peptides. The effectiveness of this microbore LC-MALDI approach is demonstrated in the quantification and identification of peptides from a mixture of standard proteins as well as E. coli whole cell extract of known relative concentrations. It is shown that this approach provides a facile and economical means of comparing relative protein abundances from two proteome samples.     

MS/MS library facilitated MRM quantification of native peptides prepared by denaturing ultrafiltration

ABSTRACT: Naturally occurring native peptides provide important information about physiological states of an organism and its changes in disease conditions but protocols and methods for assessing their abundance are not well-developed. In this paper, we describe a simple procedure for the quantification of non-tryptic peptides in body fluids. The workflow includes an enrichment step followed by two-dimensional fractionation of native peptides and MS/MS data management facilitating the design and validation of LC- MRM MS assays. The added value of the workflow is demonstrated in the development of a triplex LC-MRM MS assay used for quantification of peptides potentially associated with the progression of liver disease to hepatocellular carcinoma.     

Validation of peptide MS/MS spectra using metabolic isotope labeling for spectral matching-based shotgun proteome analysis

We report an isotope labeling shotgun proteome analysis strategy to validate the spectrum-to-sequence assignments generated by using sequence-database searching for the construction of a more reliable MS/MS spectral library. This strategy is demonstrated in the analysis of the E. coli K12 proteome. In the workflow, E. coli cells were cultured in normal and (15)N-enriched media. The differentially labeled proteins from the cell extracts were subjected to trypsin digestion and two-dimensional liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (2D-LC QTOF MS/MS) analysis. The MS/MS spectra of the two samples were individually searched using Mascot against the E. coli proteome database to generate lists of peptide sequence matches. The two data sets were compared by overlaying the spectra of unlabeled and labeled matches of the same peptide sequence for validation. Two cutoff filters, one based on the number of common fragment ions and another one on the similarity of intensity patterns among the common ions, were developed and applied to the overlaid spectral pairs to reject the low quality or incorrectly assigned spectra. By examining 257,907 and 245,156 spectra acquired from the unlabeled and (15)N-labeled samples, respectively, an experimentally validated MS/MS spectral library of tryptic peptides was constructed for E. coli K12 that consisted of 9,302 unique spectra with unique sequence and charge state, representing 7,763 unique peptide sequences. This E. coli spectral library could be readily expanded, and the overall strategy should be applicable to other organisms. Even with this relatively small library, it was shown that more peptides could be identified with higher confidence using the spectral search method than by sequence-database searching.     

Proteome profile of cytosolic component of zebrafish liver generated by LC-ESI MS/MS combined with trypsin digestion and microwave-assisted acid hydrolysis

The zebrafish genome has recently been sequenced and annotated allowing for high-throughput proteomic analysis. Here, we report for the first time a proteomic subset of zebrafish liver, an important organ for metabolizing toxins. Using a newly developed analytical procedure, we have identified 1204 proteins from the cytosolic component of a zebrafish liver tissue sample. Our methods involve cell-compartment fractionation of liver tissue samples, four levels of protein digestion, and off-line two-dimensional liquid chromatography (2-D LC) separations of resultant peptides. Proteins are identified using an electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometer (ESI-QTOF MS/MS), which provides high-resolution and high-accuracy mass measurement of peptide ions and their fragment ions. We demonstrate that greater proteome coverage can be achieved by combining the results obtained from four methods of protein digestion: three tryptic digests (one in buffer, one in methanol, and another in SDS), and a microwave-assisted acid hydrolysate of the protein extracts. Identified proteins--which included several groups of established protein biomarkers--were functionally classified. We discuss the functions and implications of these biomarkers within the context of zebrafish toxicology.     

Global proteome discovery using an online three-dimensional LC-MS/MS

We have developed a proteomics technology featuring on-line three-dimensional liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (3D LC-MS/MS). Using 3D LC-MS/MS, the yeast-soluble, urea-solubilized peripheral membrane and SDS-solubilized membrane protein samples collectively yielded 3019 unique yeast protein identifications with an average of 5.5 peptides per protein from the 6300-gene Saccharomyces Genome Database searched with SEQUEST. A single run of the urea-solubilized sample yielded 2255 unique protein identifications, suggesting high peak capacity and resolving power of 3D LC-MS/MS. After precipitation of SDS from the digested membrane protein sample, 3D LC-MS/MS allowed the analysis of membrane proteins. Among 1221 proteins containing two or more predicted transmembrane domains, 495 such proteins were identified. The improved yeast proteome data allowed the mapping of many metabolic pathways and functional categories. The 3D LC-MS/MS technology provides a suitable tool for global proteome discovery.     

Improving peptide relative quantification in MALDI‐TOF MS for biomarker assessment

Proteomic profiling by MALDI‐TOF MS presents various advantages (speed of analysis, ease of use, relatively low cost, sensitivity, tolerance against detergents and contaminants, and possibility of automation) and is being currently used in many applications (e.g. peptide/protein identification and quantification, biomarker discovery, and imaging MS). Earlier studies by many groups indicated that moderate reproducibility in relative peptide quantification is a major limitation of MALDI‐TOF MS. In the present work, we examined and demonstrate a clear effect, in cases apparently random, of sample dilution in complex samples (urine) on the relative quantification of peptides by MALDI‐TOF MS. Results indicate that in urine relative abundance of peptides cannot be assessed with confidence based on a single MALDI‐TOF MS spectrum. To account for this issue, we developed and propose a novel method of determining the relative abundance of peptides, taking into account that peptides have individual linear quantification ranges in relation to sample dilution. We developed an algorithm that calculates the range of dilutions at which each peptide responds in a linear manner and normalizes the received peptide intensity values accordingly. This concept was successfully applied to a set of urine samples from patients diagnosed with diabetes presenting normoalbuminuria (controls) and macroalbuminuria (cases).     

Definitive screening design enables optimization of LC–ESI–MS/MS parameters in proteomics

In proteomics, more than 100,000 peptides are generated from the digestion of human cell lysates. Proteome samples have a broad dynamic range in protein abundance; therefore, it is critical to optimize various parameters of LC–ESI–MS/MS to comprehensively identify these peptides. However, there are many parameters for LC–ESI–MS/MS analysis. In this study, we applied definitive screening design to simultaneously optimize 14 parameters in the operation of monolithic capillary LC–ESI–MS/MS to increase the number of identified proteins and/or the average peak area of MS1. The simultaneous optimization enabled the determination of two-factor interactions between LC and MS. Finally, we found two parameter sets of monolithic capillary LC–ESI–MS/MS that increased the number of identified proteins by 8.1% or the average peak area of MS1 by 67%. The definitive screening design would be highly useful for high-throughput analysis of the best parameter set in LC–ESI–MS/MS systems.     

Automated protein identification by the combination of MALDI MS and MS/MS spectra from different instruments

The identification of proteins separated on two-dimensional gels is most commonly performed by trypsin digestion and subsequent matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) with time-of-flight (TOF). Recently, atmospheric pressure (AP) MALDI coupled to an ion trap (IT) has emerged as a convenient method to obtain tandem mass spectra (MS/MS) from samples on MALDI target plates. In the present work, we investigated the feasibility of using the two methodologies in line as a standard method for protein identification. In this setup, the high mass accuracy MALDI-TOF spectra are used to calibrate the peptide precursor masses in the lower mass accuracy AP-MALDI-IT MS/MS spectra. Several software tools were developed to automate the analysis process. Two sets of MALDI samples, consisting of 142 and 421 gel spots, respectively, were analyzed in a highly automated manner. In the first set, the protein identification rate increased from 61% for MALDI-TOF only to 85% for MALDI-TOF combined with AP-MALDI-IT. In the second data set the increase in protein identification rate was from 44% to 58%. AP-MALDI-IT MS/MS spectra were in general less effective than the MALDI-TOF spectra for protein identification, but the combination of the two methods clearly enhanced the confidence in protein identification.     

Optimization of Data-Dependent Acquisition Parameters for Coupling High-Speed Separations with LC-MS/MS for Protein Identifications

Recent developments in chromatography, such as ultra-HPLC and superficially porous particles, offer significantly improved peptide separation. The narrow peak widths, often only several seconds, can permit a 15-min liquid chromatography run to have a similar peak capacity as a 60-min run using traditional HPLC approaches. In theory, these larger peak capacities should provide higher protein coverage and/or more protein identifications when incorporated into a proteomic workflow. We initially observed a decrease in protein coverage when implementing these faster chromatographic approaches, due to data-dependent acquisition (DDA) settings that were not properly set to match the narrow peak widths resulting from newly implemented, fast separation techniques. Oversampling of high-intensity peptides lead to low protein-sequence coverage, and tandem mass spectra (MS/MS) from lower-intensity peptides were of poor quality, as automated MS/MS events were occurring late on chromatographic peaks. These observations led us to optimize DDA settings to use these fast separations. Optimized DDA settings were applied to the analysis of Trypanosome brucei peptides, yielding peptide identifications at a rate almost five times faster than previously used methodologies. The described approach significantly improves protein identification workflows that use typical available instrumentation.     

Nonredundant mass spectrometry: a strategy to integrate mass spectrometry acquisition and analysis

Protein identification using automated data-dependent tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) is now a standard procedure. However, in many cases data-dependent acquisition becomes redundant acquisition as many different peptides from the same protein are fragmented, whilst only a few are needed for unambiguous identification. To increase the quality of information but decrease the amount of information, a nonredundant MS (nrMS) strategy has been developed. With nrMS, data analysis is an integral part of the overall MS acquisition and analysis, and not an endpoint as typically performed. In this nrMS workflow a matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-time of flight (MALDI-TOF/TOF) instrument is used. MS and restricted MS/MS data are searched and identified proteins are used to generate an "exclusion list", after in silico digestion. Peptide fragmentation is then restricted to only the most intense ions not present in the exclusion list. This process is repeated until all peaks are accounted for or the sample is consumed. Compared to nanoLC-MS/MS, nrMS yielded similar results for the analysis of six pooled two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) spots. In comparison to standard data-dependent MALDI-MS/MS for sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) gel band analysis, nrMS dramatically increased the number of identified proteins. It was also found that this new workflow significantly increased sequence coverage by identifying unexpected peptides, which can result from post-translational modifications.     

Reference-facilitated phosphoproteomics: fast and reliable phosphopeptide validation by microLC-ESI-Q-TOF MS/MS

Recent advances in instrument control and enrichment procedures have enabled us to quantify large numbers of phosphoproteins and record site-specific phosphorylation events. An intriguing problem that has arisen with these advances is to accurately validate where phosphorylation events occur, if possible, in an automated manner. The problem is difficult because MS/MS spectra of phosphopeptides are generally more complicated than those of unmodified peptides. For large scale studies, the problem is even more evident because phosphorylation sites are based on single peptide identifications in contrast to protein identifications where at least two peptides from the same protein are required for identification. To address this problem we have developed an integrated strategy that increases the reliability and ease for phosphopeptide validation. We have developed an off-line titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) selective phosphopeptide enrichment procedure for crude cell lysates. Following enrichment, half of the phosphopeptide fractionated sample is enzymatically dephosphorylated, after which both samples are subjected to LC-MS/MS. From the resulting MS/MS analyses, the dephosphorylated peptide is used as a reference spectrum against the original phosphopeptide spectrum, in effect generating two peptide spectra for the same amino acid sequence, thereby enhancing the probability of a correct identification. The integrated procedure is summarized as follows: 1) enrichment for phosphopeptides by TiO(2) chromatography, 2) dephosphorylation of half the sample, 3) LC-MS/MS-based analysis of phosphopeptides and corresponding dephosphorylated peptides, 4) comparison of peptide elution profiles before and after dephosphorylation to confirm phosphorylation, and 5) comparison of MS/MS spectra before and after dephosphorylation to validate the phosphopeptide and its phosphorylation site. This phosphopeptide identification represents a major improvement as compared with identifications based only on single MS/MS spectra and probability-based database searches. We investigated an applicability of this method to crude cell lysates and demonstrate its application on the large scale analysis of phosphorylation sites in differentiating mouse myoblast cells.     

Liquid chromatography MALDI MS/MS for membrane proteome analysis

Membrane proteins play critical roles in many biological functions and are often the molecular targets for drug discovery. However, their analysis presents a special challenge largely due to their highly hydrophobic nature. We present a surfactant-aided shotgun proteomics approach for membrane proteome analysis. In this approach, membrane proteins were solubilized and digested in the presence of SDS followed by newly developed auto-offline liquid chromatography/matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (LC/MALDI) tandem MS analysis. Because of high tolerance of MALDI to SDS, one-dimensional (1D) LC separation can be combined with MALDI for direct analysis of protein digests containing SDS, without the need for extensive sample cleanup. In addition, the heated droplet interface used in LC/MALDI can work with high flow LC separations, allowing a relatively large amount of protein digest to be used for 1D LC/MALDI which facilitates the detection of low abundance proteins. The proteome identification results obtained by LC/MALDI are compared to the gel electrophoresis/MS method as well as the shotgun proteomics method using 2D LC/electrospray ionization MS. It is demonstrated that, while LC/MALDI provides more extensive proteome coverage compared to the other two methods, these three methods are complementary to each other and a combination of these methods should provide a more comprehensive membrane proteome analysis.     

Improved two-dimensional reversed phase-reversed phase LC-MS/MS approach for identification of peptide-protein interactions

Quantitative mass spectrometry (MS) in combination with affinity purification approaches allows for an unbiased study of protein-protein and peptide-protein interactions. In shotgun approaches that are based on proteolytic digestion of complex protein mixtures followed by two-dimensional liquid-phase chromatography, the separation effort prior to MS analysis is focused on tryptic peptides. Here we developed an improved offline 2-D liquid chromatography-MS/MS approach for the identification and quantification of binding proteins utilizing reversed-phase capillary columns with acidic acetonitrile-containing eluents in both chromatographic dimensions. A specific fractionation scheme was applied in order to obtain samples with evenly distributed peptides and to fully utilize the separation space in the second dimension nanoLC-MS/MS. We report peptide-protein interaction studies to identify phosphorylation-dependent binding partners of the T cell adapter protein ADAP. The results of the SILAC-based pull-down experiments show this approach is well suited for distinguishing phosphorylation-specific interactions from unspecific binding events. The data provide further evidence that phosphorylated Tyr 595 of ADAP may serve as a direct binding site for the SH2 domains of the T cell proteins SLP76 and NCK. From a technical point of view we provide a detailed protocol for an offline 2-D RP-RP LC-MS/MS method that offers a robust and time-saving alternative for quantitative interactome analysis.     

Semi-automated identification of N-Glycopeptides by hydrophilic interaction chromatography, nano-reverse-phase LC-MS/MS, and glycan database search

Glycoproteins fulfill many indispensable biological functions, and changes in protein glycosylation have been observed in various diseases. Improved analytical methods are needed to allow a complete characterization of this complex and common post-translational modification. In this study, we present a workflow for the analysis of the microheterogeneity of N-glycoproteins that couples hydrophilic interaction and nanoreverse-phase C18 chromatography to tandem QTOF mass spectrometric analysis. A glycan database search program, GlycoPeptideSearch, was developed to match N-glycopeptide MS/MS spectra with the glycopeptides comprised of a glycan drawn from the GlycomeDB glycan structure database and a peptide from a user-specified set of potentially glycosylated peptides. Application of the workflow to human haptoglobin and hemopexin, two microheterogeneous N-glycoproteins, identified a total of 57 distinct site-specific glycoforms in the case of haptoglobin and 14 site-specific glycoforms of hemopexin. Using glycan oxonium ions and peptide-characteristic glycopeptide fragment ions and by collapsing topologically redundant glycans, the search software was able to make unique N-glycopeptide assignments for 51% of assigned spectra, with the remaining assignments primarily representing isobaric topological rearrangements. The optimized workflow, coupled with GlycoPeptideSearch, is expected to make high-throughput semiautomated glycopeptide identification feasible for a wide range of users.     

A comparison of nLC-ESI-MS/MS and nLC-MALDI-MS/MS for GeLC-based protein identification and iTRAQ-based shotgun quantitative proteomics.

The use of nLC-ESI-MS/MS in shotgun proteomics experiments and GeLC-MS/MS analysis is well accepted and routinely available in most proteomics laboratories. However, the same cannot be said for nLC-MALDI MS/MS, which has yet to experience such widespread acceptance, despite the fact that the MALDI technology offers several critical advantages over ESI. As an illustration, in an analysis of moderately complex sample of E. coli proteins, the use MALDI in addition to ESI in GeLC-MS/MS resulted in a 16% average increase in protein identifications, while with more complex samples the number of additional protein identifications increased by an average of 45%. The size of the unique peptides identified by MALDI was, on average, 25% larger than the unique peptides identified by ESI, and they were found to be slightly more hydrophilic. The insensitivity of MALDI to the presence of ionization suppression agents was shown to be a significant advantage, suggesting it be used as a complement to ESI when ion suppression is a possibility. Furthermore, the higher resolution of the TOF/TOF instrument improved the sensitivity, accuracy, and precision of the data over that obtained using only ESI-based iTRAQ experiments using a linear ion trap. Nevertheless, accurate data can be generated with either instrument. These results demonstrate that coupling nanoLC with both ESI and MALDI ionization interfaces improves proteome coverage, reduces the deleterious effects of ionization suppression agents, and improves quantitation, particularly in complex samples.     

The Effect of Peptide Identification Search Algorithms on MS2-Based Label-Free Protein Quantification

Abstract Several approaches exist for the quantification of proteins in complex samples processed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry followed by fragmentation analysis (MS2). One of these approaches is label-free MS2-based quantification, which takes advantage of the information computed from MS2 spectrum observations to estimate the abundance of a protein in a sample. As a first step in this approach, fragmentation spectra are typically matched to the peptides that generated them by a search algorithm. Because different search algorithms identify overlapping but non-identical sets of peptides, here we investigate whether these differences in peptide identification have an impact on the quantification of the proteins in the sample. We therefore evaluated the effect of using different search algorithms by examining the reproducibility of protein quantification in technical repeat measurements of the same sample. From our results, it is clear that a search engine effect does exist for MS2-based label-free protein quantification methods. As a general conclusion, it is recommended to address the overall possibility of search engine-induced bias in the protein quantification results of label-free MS2-based methods by performing the analysis with two or more distinct search engines.     

Quantitative proteome analysis of human plasma following in vivo lipopolysaccharide administration using 16O/18O labeling and the accurate mass and time tag approach

Identification of novel diagnostic or therapeutic biomarkers from human blood plasma would benefit significantly from quantitative measurements of the proteome constituents over a range of physiological conditions. Herein we describe an initial demonstration of proteome-wide quantitative analysis of human plasma. The approach utilizes postdigestion trypsin-catalyzed 16O/18O peptide labeling, two-dimensional LC-FTICR mass spectrometry, and the accurate mass and time (AMT) tag strategy to identify and quantify peptides/proteins from complex samples. A peptide accurate mass and LC elution time AMT tag data base was initially generated using MS/MS following extensive multidimensional LC separations to provide the basis for subsequent peptide identifications. The AMT tag data base contains >8,000 putative identified peptides, providing 938 confident plasma protein identifications. The quantitative approach was applied without depletion of high abundance proteins for comparative analyses of plasma samples from an individual prior to and 9 h after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration. Accurate quantification of changes in protein abundance was demonstrated by both 1:1 labeling of control plasma and the comparison between the plasma samples following LPS administration. A total of 429 distinct plasma proteins were quantified from the comparative analyses, and the protein abundances for 25 proteins, including several known inflammatory response mediators, were observed to change significantly following LPS administration.     

Increased proteome coverage by combining PAGE and peptide isoelectric focusing: Comparative study of gel‐based separation approaches

The in‐depth analysis of complex proteome samples requires fractionation of the sample into subsamples prior to LC‐MS/MS in shotgun proteomics experiments. We have established a 3D workflow for shotgun proteomics that relies on protein separation by 1D PAGE, gel fractionation, trypsin digestion, and peptide separation by in‐gel IEF, prior to RP‐HPLC‐MS/MS. Our results show that applying peptide IEF can significantly increase the number of proteins identified from PAGE subfractionation. This method delivers deeper proteome coverage and provides a large degree of flexibility in experimentally approaching highly complex mixtures by still relying on protein separation according to molecular weight in the first dimension.