A proteomics approach for identifying osmotic-stress-related proteins in rice

Osmotic stress can endanger the survival of plants. To investigate the mechanisms of how plants respond to osmotic stress, rice protein profiles from mannitol-treated plants, were monitored using a proteomics approach. Two-week-old rice seedlings were treated with 400mM mannitol for 48h. After separation of proteins from the basal part of leaf sheaths by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, 327 proteins were detected. The levels of 12 proteins increased and the levels of three proteins decreased with increasing concentration or duration, of mannitol treatment. Levels of a heat shock protein and a dnaK-type molecular chaperone were reduced under osmotic, cold, salt and drought stresses, and ABA treatment, whereas a 26S proteasome regulatory subunit was found to be responsive only to osmotic stress. Furthermore, proteins whose accumulation was sensitive to osmotic stress are present in an osmotic-tolerant cultivar. These results indicate that specific proteins expressed in the basal part of rice leaf sheaths show a coordinated response to cope with osmotic stress.     

Over-expression of calcium-dependent protein kinase 13 and calreticulin interacting protein 1 confers cold tolerance on rice plants

Calcium is a ubiquitous signaling molecule and changes in cytosolic calcium concentration are involved in plant responses to various stimuli. The rice calcium-dependent protein kinase 13 (CDPK13) and calreticulin interacting protein 1 (CRTintP1) have previously been reported to be involved in cold stress response in rice. In this study, rice lines transformed with sense CDPK13 or CRTintP1 constructs were produced and used to investigate the function of these proteins. When the plants were incubated at 5°C for 3 days, leaf blades of both the sense transgenic and vector control rice plants became wilted and curled. When the plants were transferred back to non-stress conditions after cold treatment, the leaf blades died, but the sheaths remained green in the sense transgenic rice plants. Expression of CDPK13 or CRTintP1 was further examined in several rice varieties including cold-tolerant rice varieties. Accumulation of these proteins in the cold-tolerant rice variety was higher than that in rice varieties that are intermediate in their cold tolerance. To examine whether over-expression of CDPK13 and CRTintP1 would have any effect on the proteins or not, sense transgenic rice plants were analyzed using proteomics. The 2D-PAGE profiles of proteins from the vector control were compared with those of the sense transgenic rice plants. Two of the proteins that differed between these lines were calreticulins. The results suggest that CDPK13, calreticulin and CRTintP1 might be important signaling components for response to cold stress in rice.     

Contribution of basal portion of shoot to N2 fixation associated with wetland rice

Summary Oryza sativa grown in flooded soil were transferred to water culture solution and acetylene reduction activities (ARA) of intact plants and rootless plants were measured for 5 h. Relative rate of ARA associated with the rootless wetland rice plant as compared with an intact plant varied from 8 to 100 percent, depending on the growth stage and varieties of rice and highest at the early stage (3 weeks after transplanting) for all varieties tested (IR26, Latisail, Khao Lo, and JBS236). ARA of shoots was associated with basal parts of the shoots about 3 cm from the base of wetland cultivated rice andOryza australiensis. Phyllospheric ARA was negligible except for senescent outer leaf sheaths. Microaerophilic N₂-fixing bacteria also inhabited basal parts of shoots (outer leaf sheaths and stems) of wetland rice. These findings suggest that N₂-fixation is partly associated with the shoots of wetland rice plants.     

Proteomic analysis of rice leaf sheath during drought stress

Drought is one of the most severe limitations on the productivity of rainfed lowland and upland rice. To investigate the initial response of rice to drought stress, changes in protein expression were analyzed using a proteomic approach. Two-week-old rice seedlings were exposed to drought conditions from 2 to 6 days, and proteins were extracted from leaf sheaths, separated by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and stained with Coomassie brilliant blue. After drought stress for 2 to 6 days, 10 proteins increased in abundance and the level of 2 proteins decreased. The functional categories of these proteins were identified as defense, energy, metabolism, cell structure, and signal transduction. In addition to drought stress, accumulations of protein were analyzed under several different stress conditions. The levels of an actin depolymerizing factor, a light harvesting complex chain II, a superoxidase dismutase and a salt-induced protein were changed by drought and osmotic stresses, but not cold or salt stresses, or abscisic acid treatment. The effect of drought stress on protein in the leaf sheaths of drought-tolerant rice cultivar was also analyzed. The light harvesting complex chain II and the actin depolymerizing factor were present at high levels in a drought-tolerant rice cultivar before stress application. With drought stress, actin depolymerizing factor was expressed in leaf blades, leaf sheaths, and roots. These results suggest that actin depolymerizing factor is one of the target proteins induced by drought stress.     

Selective isolation and analysis of glycoprotein fractions and their glycomes from hepatocellular carcinoma sera

As one of the most important post‐translational modifications, the discovery, isolation, and identification of glycoproteins are becoming increasingly important. In this study, a Con A‐magnetic particle conjugate‐based method was utilized to selectively isolate the glycoproteins and their glycomes from the healthy donor and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) case sera. The isolated glycoproteins and their N‐linked glycans were identified by LC‐ESI‐MS/MS and MALDI‐TOF/TOF‐MS, respectively. A total of 93 glycoproteins from the healthy donors and 85 glycoproteins from the HCC cases were identified. There were 34 different glycoproteins shown between the healthy donors (21/34) and the HCC cases (13/34). Twenty‐eight glycans from the healthy donors and 30 glycans from the HCC cases were detected and there were 22 different glycans shown between the healthy donors (10/22) and HCC cases (12/22). Among these glycoproteins, 50 were known to be N‐linked glycoproteins and three novel glycopeptides from two predicted potential glycoproteins were discovered. Moreover, lectin blotting, Western blotting and lectin/glyco‐antibody microarrays were applied to definitely elucidate the change of selective protein expressions and their glycosylation levels, the results indicated that the differences of the identified glycoproteins between the healthy donors and HCC cases were caused by the change of both protein expression and their glycosylation levels.     

Proteomics approach to identify wound-response related proteins from rice leaf sheath

In order to avoid the complex conditions of the intact plant for simple analysis of proteins in wound-response stress, we used the detached rice leaf sheath which is a very active part of the rice seedling. Proteins were extracted from rice leaf sheath at 0, 12, 24, 48 h after cutting and separated by two-dimensional (2-D) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Changes in differentially displayed proteins were found in leaf sheaths after cutting in the 0-48 h time course. Ten proteins were up-regulated, while 19 proteins were down-regulated compared with those on the four 2-D gels. Among them, 14 proteins were analyzed by N-terminal, or internal amino acid sequence. The clear functions of nine proteins could be identified. Six proteins did not yield amino acid sequence information due to their blocked N-termini. Furthermore, 11 proteins were determined by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry, and identified protein database matching. It was shown that the down-regulated proteins were calreticulin (nos. 5, 6), histone H1 (no. 15) and hemoglobin (no. 17), putative peroxidase (no. 19); the up-regulated proteins were Bowman-Birk trypsin inhibitor (no. 23), putative receptor-like protein kinase (nos. 24, 25), calmodulin-related protein (no. 26), small subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (no. 27), mannose-binding rice lectin (nos. 28, 29). Among all the above proteins, four (nos. 23, 24, 25, 26) have been confirmed to be wound-response proteins. The others cannot be excluded as also being related to wound-responses, such as the signal transduction-related proteins (nos. 5, 6), photosynthesis-related protein (no. 27), and stress-response proteins (nos. 19, 28, 29). This is the first time protein changes in response to wounding in rice leaf sheath have been shown.     

Proteomic analysis of rice seedlings during cold stress

Low temperature is one of the important environmental changes that affect plant growth and agricultural production. To investigate the responses of rice to cold stress, changes in protein expression were analyzed using a proteomic approach. Two-week-old rice seedlings were exposed to 5 degrees C for 48 h, then total crude proteins were extracted from leaf blades, leaf sheaths and roots, separated by 2-DE and stained with CBB. Of the 250-400 protein spots from each organ, 39 proteins changed in abundance after cold stress, with 19 proteins increasing, and 20 proteins decreasing. In leaf blades, it was difficult to detect the changes in stress-responsive proteins due to the presence of an abundant protein, ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase large subunit (RuBisCO LSU), which accounted for about 50% of the total proteins. To overcome this problem, an antibody-affinity column was prepared to trap RuBisCO LSU, and the remaining proteins in the flow through from the column were subsequently separated using 2-DE. As a result, slight changes in stress responsive proteins were clearly displayed, and four proteins were newly detected after cold stress. From identified proteins, it was concluded that proteins related to energy metabolism were up-regulated, and defense-related proteins were down-regulated in leaf blades, by cold stress. These results suggest that energy production is activated in the chilling environment; furthermore, stress-related proteins are rapidly up-regulated, while defense-related proteins disappear, under long-term cold stress.     

Identification and characterization of a gibberellin-regulated protein,which is ASR5, in the basal region of rice leaf sheaths

Gibberellins (GAs) regulate growth and development in higher plants. To identify GA-regulated proteins during rice leaf sheath elongation, a proteomic approach was used. Proteins from the basal region of leaf sheath in rice seedling treated with GA₃ were analyzed by fluorescence two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis. The levels of abscisic acid-stress-ripening-inducible 5 protein (ASR5), elongation factor-1 beta, translationally controlled tumor protein, fructose-bisphosphate aldolase and a novel protein increased; whereas the level of RuBisCO subunit binding-protein decreased by GA₃ treatment. ASR5 out of these six proteins was significantly regulated by GA₃ at the protein level but not at the mRNA level in the basal region of leaf sheaths. Since this protein is regulated not only by abscisic acid but also by GA₃, these results indicate that ASR5 might be involved in plant growth in addition to stress in the basal regions of leaf sheaths.     

Characterization of a histidine- and alanine-rich protein showing interaction with calreticulin in rice

Calreticulin (CRT) is a major calcium-sequestering protein in the endoplasmic reticulum and has been implicated in a variety of cellular functions. To analyze the function of CRT in rice, a yeast two-hybrid protein interaction assay was used for identifying interacting proteins. Fourteen of 17 interacting cDNA clones found coded for a novel histidine- and alanine-rich protein (OsHARP) of 342 amino acid residues. The mRNA expression level of OsHARP was up-regulated in rice seedlings treated with gibberellin (GA), but not ABA and showed a similar pattern as OsCRT mRNA. Rice plants transformed with the OsHARP promoter-GUS construct showed GUS staining in the basal parts of leaf sheaths, and although GUS activity increased when treated with GA₃, it was not as high an increase as when mRNA was analyzed. To elucidate the role of OsHARP in leaf sheath elongation, antisense OsHARP transgenic rice lines were constructed. The antisense OsHARP transgenic rice plants were consistently shorter than the vector control under normal conditions. To examine whether OsHARP expression would affect other proteins, basal leaf sheaths from antisense OsHARP transgenic rice plants were analyzed using proteomic techniques. In antisense transgenic-rice OsHARP plants, OsCRT was down-regulated and the levels of 20 other proteins were changed compared to the pattern of the vector control. These results signify an important role of HARP in rice leaf sheath cell division or elongation and suggest that CRT may interact with HARP during certain stages of development.     

Analysis of sugar chain-binding specificity of tomato lectin using lectin blot: recognition of high mannose-type N-glycans produced by plants and yeast

The sugar chain-binding specificity of tomato lectin (LEA) against glycoproteins was investigated qualitatively using lectin blot analysis. Glycoproteins containing tri- and tetra-antennary complex-type N-glycans were stained with LEA. Unexpectedly, glycoproteins containing high mannose-type N-glycans and a horseradish peroxidase were stained with LEA. LEA blot analysis of the glycoproteins accompanied by treatment with exoglycosidase revealed that the binding site of LEA for the complex-type N-glycans was the N-acetyllactosaminyl side chains, whereas the proximal chitobiose core appeared to be the binding site of LEA for high mannose-type N-glycans. Despite these results, the glycoproteins did not inhibit the hemagglutinating activity of LEA. Among the chitin-binding lectins compared, potato tuber lectin showed specificity similar to LEA on lectin blot analysis, while Datura stramonium lectin and wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) did not interact with glycoproteins containing high mannose-type N-glycans, except that RNase B was stained by WGA. Based on these observations, LEA blot analysis was applied to sugar chain analysis of tomato glycoproteins. The most abundant LEA-reactive glycoprotein was purified from the exocarp of ripe tomato fruits, and was identified as the tomato anionic peroxidase1 (TAP1). These results suggest that LEA interacts with glycoproteins produced by tomatoes, which participate in biological activities in tomato plants.     

Gibberellins do not act against abscisic acid in the regulation of bulb dormancy of Allium wakegi Araki

Abscisic acid (ABA) is involved in bulb dormancy of Alliumwakegi Araki. We examined the antagonistic role of gibberellins(GAs)against ABA in the regulation of this dormancy. The concentrations of ABA andGAs in the basal leaf sheaths or bulbs of A. wakegi cv.Kiharawase were investigated during growth in the field and postharveststorage.The concentration of ABA in the basal leaf sheaths began to increase about onemonth before they began to swell, reached a maximum shortly after bulbharvesting, and decreased during postharvest storage. The plants showed bulbdormancy accompanied with the change in ABA concentration. GA1,GA3, GA4, GA12, GA15, GA19, and GA20 were identified in the basal leaf sheaths of A. wakegi from Kovats retention indices (KRI) andfull-scan mass spectra by gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC-MS)analysis. The concentrations of all classes of GAs in the basal leaf sheathsestimated by the dwarf rice micro-drop assay increased transitorily shortlybefore they began to swell, and decreased rapidly during bulb development. Bulbdormancy had already been induced when the concentration of the GAs becamemaximum. All the GAs in the bulbs remained at a low level during postharveststorage, when bulbs were gradually released from dormancy. The concentrationsof GA1+3, GA4, GA15, and GA20 inthe bulbs increased after sprouting of the bulbs planted in moist vermiculite.Hence, the state of bulb dormancy is considered to be independent of the GAconcentrations of in the basal leaf sheaths or bulbs of A.wakegi.     

Identification of Plasma Membrane Glycoproteins Specific to Human Glioblastoma Multiforme Cells Using Lectin Arrays and LC‐MS/MS

Glioblastoma, also known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is the most malignant type of brain cancer and has poor prognosis with a median survival of less than one year. While the structural changes of tumor cell surface carbohydrates are known to be associated with invasive behavior of tumor cells, the cell surface glycoproteins to differentiate the low‐ and high‐grade glioma cells can be potential diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets for GBMs. In the present study, lectin arrays consisting of eight lectins were employed to explore cell surface carbohydrate expression patterns on low‐grade oligodendroglioma cells (Hs683) and GBM cells (T98G). Griffonia simplicifolia I (GS I) was found to selectively bind to T98G cells and not to Hs683 cells. For identification of the glioblastoma‐specific cell surface markers, the glycoproteins from each cell type were captured by a GS I lectin column and analyzed by LC‐MS/MS. The identified proteins from the two cell types were quantified using label‐free quantitative analysis based on spectral counting. Of cell surface glycoproteins showing significant increases in T98G cells, five proteins were selected for verification of both protein and glycosylation level changes using Western blot and GS I lectin‐based immunosorbent assay.     

Development of fluorescent probes for the detection of fucosylated <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-glycans using an <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aspergillus oryzae</Emphasis> lectin

The α(1,6)-fucose attached to the core N-glycan (core fucose) of glycoproteins has been known to play essential roles in various pathophysiological events, including oncogenesis and metastasis. Aspergillus oryzae lectin (AOL) encoded by the fleA gene has been reported to bind to N-glycans containing core fucose. The fleA gene encoding AOL was cloned into an Escherichia coli expression vector and then fused with genes of fluorescent proteins for production of fusion proteins. The resulting FleA-fluorescent fusion proteins were expressed well in E. coli and shown to detect glycoproteins containing N-glycans with core fucose by lectin blot assay. It was also shown to bind to the surface of cancer cells highly expressing the fucosyltransferase VIII for attachment of core fucose. Surprisingly, we found that FleA-fluorescent fusion proteins could be internalized into the intracellular compartment, early endosome, when applied to live cells. This internalization was shown to occur through a clathrin-mediated pathway by endocytosis inhibitor assay. Taken together, these results suggest that FleA-fluorescent fusion proteins can be employed as a valuable fluorescent probe for the detection of fucosylated glycans and/or a useful vehicle for delivery of substances to the inside of cells.     

Lectin Receptors in Central Nervous System Myelin

Abstract: Proteins from central nervous system myelin were separated by high-resolution, sodium dodecyl sulfate-pore gradient slab gel electrophoresis and the glycoproteins were detected by autoradiography after direct application of radioiodinated lectins. A surprising heterogeneity of lectin binding proteins was found associated with this highly purified membrane fraction. Iodinated wheat germ agglutinin, which has a monosaccharide specificity for N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and N-acetylneuraminic acid, revealed six major bands and two minor bands. By correlating the molecular weights (M_r) of radioiodinated protein standards with the gel concentration at the position reached by the protein (%T) using the relationship log(M_r) versus log(%T) for gradient gel systems, molecular weight estimates of 128, 300, 109, 800, 75, 300, 48, 800, 26, 100 and 23, 700 were obtained for the major glycoprotein bands and molecular weights of 98, 300 and 86, 600 for the minor bands. When the isolated myelin was extracted with chloroform-methanol-a procedure that removes the major myelin proteins, including the proteolipid protein and most of the basic proteins and hence concentrates the minor high molecular weight proteins-and analyzed after gradient gel electrophoresis, additional glycoproteins of molecular weights 607, 700, 196, 900, 175, 100, 61, 800, 52, 200 and 42, 600 were resolved with this lectin. Radioiodinated soybean agglutinin, which has a specificity for N-acetyl-D-galactosamine and D-galactose, revealed seven bands, three of which were unique to this lectin (19, 600, 19, 100 and 17,000). Iodinated concanavalin A (d -mannose, d -glucose) revealed bands similar to the wheat germ agglutinin as well as additional bands of 40, 300, 37, 300, 35, 700, 21, 800 and 20, 400. The glycoprotein specificity for these lectin binding components was demonstrated by hapten carbohydrate binding inhibition and by organic solvent extraction for removal of glycolipids. Based on these experiments using three lectins with different carbohydrate specificity, 22 lectin-reactive components were identified; however, six of these bands were removed by chloroform-methanol extraction. The variations observed in the lectin binding capacity for these different bands suggest possible carbohydrate heterogeneity for these individual glycoproteins. Although many of these bands may be dissociated subunits (monomeric polypeptides) of oligomeric complexes, the observed multiplicity of these quantitatively minor glycoproteins associated with the purified myelin membrane implies a more intricate molecular organization for the myelin sheath complex than previously believed.     

N‐glycan maturation mutants in Lotus japonicus for basic and applied glycoprotein research

Studies of protein N‐glycosylation are important for answering fundamental questions on the diverse functions of glycoproteins in plant growth and development. Here we generated and characterised a comprehensive collection of Lotus japonicusLORE1 insertion mutants, each lacking the activity of one of the 12 enzymes required for normal N‐glycan maturation in the glycosylation machinery. The inactivation of the individual genes resulted in altered N‐glycan patterns as documented using mass spectrometry and glycan‐recognising antibodies, indicating successful identification of null mutations in the target glyco‐genes. For example, both mass spectrometry and immunoblotting experiments suggest that proteins derived from the α1,3‐fucosyltransferase (Lj3fuct) mutant completely lacked α1,3‐core fucosylation. Mass spectrometry also suggested that the Lotus japonicus convicilin 2 was one of the main glycoproteins undergoing differential expression/N‐glycosylation in the mutants. Demonstrating the functional importance of glycosylation, reduced growth and seed production phenotypes were observed for the mutant plants lacking functional mannosidase I, N‐acetylglucosaminyltransferase I, and α1,3‐fucosyltransferase, even though the relative protein composition and abundance appeared unaffected. The strength of our N‐glycosylation mutant platform is the broad spectrum of resulting glycoprotein profiles and altered physiological phenotypes that can be produced from single, double, triple and quadruple mutants. This platform will serve as a valuable tool for elucidating the functional role of protein N‐glycosylation in plants. Furthermore, this technology can be used to generate stable plant mutant lines for biopharmaceutical production of glycoproteins displaying relative homogeneous and mammalian‐like N‐glycosylation features.     

A host-specific toxin of Rhizoctonia solani triggers superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in rice

Changes in the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in rice in response to treatment with Rhizoctonia solani toxin and/or R. solani elicitor were studied. Treatment of rice leaf sheaths with R. solani-toxin significantly increased the SOD activity within 12?h and the maximum enzyme activity was detected 36?h after treatment at which period a fourfold increase in SOD activity was recorded compared to control plants. Isozyme analysis indicated that five new SOD isozymes (SOD-1, SOD-3, SOD-6, SOD-7 and SOD-8) were induced in rice 1?–?2 days after toxin treatment. In elicitor-treated rice leaf sheaths, SOD-2 increased in activity 1?–?5 days after treatment. Pretreatment of rice leaf sheaths with elicitor suppressed the toxin-induced accumulation of SOD.     

Lectin binding and uptake and glycoprotein characterization of isolated porcine aortic endothelial and smooth muscle cells

Endothelial and smooth muscle cells were isolated from porcine aorta and kept in short-term culture. To determine the terminal carbohydate composition of the plasma membranes from both cell populations, the cells were incubated with a panel of fluorescein-labelled lectins. Both cell populations shared a number of terminal carbohydrates, but the N-galactosamine specific lectin Wistaria floribunda agglutinin labelled only the endothelial cells. A lectin which selectively labelled smooth muscle cells was not found. Western blot analysis of isolated endothelial cell membrane glycoproteins indicated that most membrane glycoproteins are labelled by Wistaria floribunda agglutinin.