Comparative studies of four protein preparation methods for proteomic study of the dinoflagellate Alexandrium sp. using two-dimensional electrophoresis

Alexandrium is a wide-spread genus of dinoflagellate causing harmful algal blooms and paralytic shellfish poisoning around the world. Proteomics has been introduced to the study of Alexandrium, but the protein preparation method is still unsatisfactory with respect to protein spot number, separation and resolution, and this has limited the application of a proteomic approach to the study of dinoflagellates. In this study we compared four protein preparation methods for the two-dimensional electrophoresis (2DE) analysis of A. tamarense: (1) urea/Triton X-100 buffer extraction with trichloroacetic acid (TCA)/acetone precipitation; (2) direct precipitation with TCA/acetone; (3) 40 mM Tris (hydroxymethyl) aminomethane (Tris) buffer extraction; and (4) 50 mM Tris/5% glycerol buffer extraction. The results showed that, among the four protein preparation methods, the method combining the urea/Triton X-100 buffer extraction and TCA/acetone precipitation allowed detection of the highest number and quality of protein spots with a clear background. Although the direct TCA/acetone precipitation method also detected a high number of protein spots with a clear background, the spot number, separation and intensity were not as good as those obtained from the urea/Triton X-100 buffer extraction with TCA/acetone precipitation method. The 40 mM Tris buffer and 50 mM Tris/5% glycerol buffer methods allowed the detection of fewer protein spots and a pH range only from 4 to 7. Subsequently, the urea/Triton X-100 buffer extraction with TCA/acetone precipitation method was successfully applied to profiling protein expression in A. catenella under light stress conditions and the differential expression proteins were identified using MALDI TOF–TOF mass spectrometry. The method developed here appears to be promising for further proteomic studies of this organism and related species.     

Protein precipitation of diluted samples in SDS‐containing buffer with acetone leads to higher protein recovery and reproducibility in comparison with TCA/acetone approach

Proteomic approaches are extremely valuable in many fields of research, where mass spectrometry methods have gained an increasing interest, especially because of the ability to perform quantitative analysis. Nonetheless, sample preparation prior to mass spectrometry analysis is of the utmost importance. In this work, two protein precipitation approaches, widely used for cleaning and concentrating protein samples, were tested and compared in very diluted samples solubilized in a strong buffer (containing SDS). The amount of protein recovered after acetone and TCA/acetone precipitation was assessed, as well as the protein identification and relative quantification by SWATH‐MS yields were compared with the results from the same sample without precipitation. From this study, it was possible to conclude that in the case of diluted samples in denaturing buffers, the use of cold acetone as precipitation protocol is more favourable than the use of TCA/acetone in terms of reproducibility in protein recovery and number of identified and quantified proteins. Furthermore, the reproducibility in relative quantification of the proteins is even higher in samples precipitated with acetone compared with the original sample.     

灵芝子实体原基双向电泳和总蛋白质提取方法的建立

比较了Tris-饱和酚法和三氯乙酸(TCA)/丙酮沉淀法对灵芝子实体原基总蛋白质的提取效果。用Image Master 2D Platinum6.0软件分析两种方法所提蛋白质的双向电泳图谱,分别得到565和273个蛋白质点;(TCA)/丙酮沉淀法在碱性端低分子量区域有些蛋白质斑点存在拖尾现象,Tris-饱和酚法能有效去除样品中的盐分,使蛋白质的聚焦效果更好,蛋白点数增加。Tris-饱和酚法可做为灵芝子实体原基总蛋白质的提取方法并为其他药用真菌总蛋白质的提取提供参考,同时为本实验室后续研究灵芝双向性固体发酵雷公藤的蛋白差异表达奠定了基础。     

An Optimized Trichloroacetic Acid/Acetone Precipitation Method for Two-Dimensional Gel Electrophoresis Analysis of Qinchuan Cattle Longissimus Dorsi Muscle Containing High Proportion of Marbling

Longissimus dorsi muscle (LD) proteomics provides a novel opportunity to reveal the molecular mechanism behind intramuscular fat deposition. Unfortunately, the vast amounts of lipids and nucleic acids in this tissue hampered LD proteomics analysis. Trichloroacetic acid (TCA)/acetone precipitation is a widely used method to remove contaminants from protein samples. However, the high speed centrifugation employed in this method produces hard precipitates, which restrict contaminant elimination and protein re-dissolution. To address the problem, the centrifugation precipitates were first grinded with a glass tissue grinder and then washed with 90% acetone (TCA/acetone-G-W) in the present study. According to our result, the treatment for solid precipitate facilitated non-protein contaminant removal and protein re-dissolution, ultimately improving two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) analysis. Additionally, we also evaluated the effect of sample drying on 2-DE profile as well as protein yield. It was found that 30 min air-drying did not result in significant protein loss, but reduced horizontal streaking and smearing on 2-DE gel compared to 10 min. In summary, we developed an optimized TCA/acetone precipitation method for protein extraction of LD, in which the modifications improved the effectiveness of TCA/acetone method.     

Membrane‐Based SDS Depletion Ahead of Peptide and Protein Analysis by Mass Spectrometry

SDS interferes with both bottom‐up and top‐down MS analysis, requiring removal prior to detection. Filter‐aided sample preparation (FASP) is favored for bottom‐up proteomics (BUP) while acetone precipitation is popular for top‐down proteomics (TDP). We recently demonstrated acetone precipitation in a membrane filter cartridge. Alternatively, our automated electrophoretic device, termed transmembrane electrophoresis (TME), depletes SDS for both TDP and BUP studies. Here TME is compared to these two alternative methods of SDS depletion in both BUP and TDP workflows. To do so, a modified FASP method is described applicable to the SDS purification and recovery of intact proteins, suitable for LC/MS. All three methods reliably deplete >99.8% SDS. TME provide higher sample yields (average 90%) than FASP (55%) or acetone precipitation (57%), translating into higher total protein identifications (973 vs 877 FASP or 890 acetone) and higher spectral matches (2.5 times) per protein. In a top down workflow, each SDS‐depletion method yields high‐quality MS spectra for intact proteins. These results show each of these membrane‐based strategies is capable of depleting SDS with high sample recovery and high spectra quality for both BUP and TDP studies.     

甜瓜叶片中Rubisco的去除及双向电泳体系的优化

为降低Rubisco的干扰,建立适合于甜瓜叶片蛋白质的双向电泳技术,本文比较了不同全蛋白提取方法和上样量对双向电泳的影响。结果表明,Mg/NP-40/PEG3350/TCA/丙酮提取法可去除样品中绝大多数的Rubisco,使低丰度蛋白得以检测,适合后续分析。以该法提取的蛋白,采用600、800、1000和l200μg四种上样量进行双向电泳,上样量为l000μg的样品用pH3～10的IPG胶条,在2-DE胶上分辨出质量好、数量多的蛋白质点（562个）。因此,Mg/NP-40/PEG3350/TCA/丙酮法是适合甜瓜叶片蛋白质提取的方法,l000μg是最适上样量。     

Rapid method for protein quantitation by Bradford assay after elimination of the interference of polysorbate 80

Bradford assay is one of the most common methods for measuring protein concentrations. However, some pharmaceutical excipients, such as detergents, interfere with Bradford assay even at low concentrations. Protein precipitation can be used to overcome sample incompatibility with protein quantitation. But the rate of protein recovery caused by acetone precipitation is only about 70%. In this study, we found that sucrose not only could increase the rate of protein recovery after 1 h acetone precipitation, but also did not interfere with Bradford assay. So we developed a method for rapid protein quantitation in protein drugs even if they contained interfering substances.     

不同提取方法及上样量对牡丹试管苗茎基部蛋白双向电泳的影响

为建立一套适合于牡丹试管苗茎基部蛋白的双向电泳技术,以便更好地利用蛋白质组技术研究牡丹试管苗不定根的发生机理,本研究比较了三种不同蛋白质提取方法对双向电泳结果的影响,并在蛋白质上样量方面进行了比较。结果表明,乙酸铵/甲醇酚提取法所得2-DE图谱的蛋白点很少,仅检测到45个,且较模糊,有明显的拖尾现象,分辨率很低;乙醇/乙醚丙酮法所得的蛋白点也较少(101个),较模糊,且横竖纹干扰较大;三氯乙酸/丙酮法所得蛋白点数较多,可检测到434个清晰的蛋白点,且形状规则,重复性好,适合后续分析,操作也较为简便。用三氯乙酸/丙酮法提取蛋白,采用800μg、1000μg和1200μg三个不同的上样量进行双向电泳,在上样量为1200μg时(IPGpH3～10,24cm),蛋白质在12%SDS-PAGE胶上得到了较好的分离,在2-DE图谱上可分辨出562个蛋白点。因此,三氯乙酸/丙酮法是较适合于牡丹试管苗茎基部蛋白质提取的方法,1200μg是较为合适的上样量。     

Evaluation of sample extraction methods for proteomic analysis of coniferous seeds

In this study, three methods of protein extraction from the seeds of the Chinese fir were compared by examining the quality (including the number of protein spots observed) in the two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), obtained by isoelectric focusing and sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the total released protein. Three protein extraction methods were: TCA-acetone precipitation, SDS extraction/acetone precipitation, and phenol extraction methanol/ammonium acetate precipitation. The results showed that TCA-acetone precipitation was the most effective method for protein extraction; it gave the highest yield of total protein (8.9 mg protein per g seed weight) and the greatest number of proteins spots (1,034 spots) on the 2-DE gel. Further, several proteins were identified by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC MS/MS), which are legumin-like storage protein, similar to AMP binding/acetate-CoA ligase, similar to 40S ribosomal protein S20, actin, ascorbate peroxidase, Similar to cysteine synthase, and unknown protein. These data demonstrates that TCA-acetone precipitation followed by 2-DE and LC MS/MS is a suitable method for proteomic analysis of coniferous species, such as Chinese fir and provides a valuable starting point for similar proteomic analysis of other coniferous tree species.     

非洲山毛豆叶片蛋白组双向电泳样品制备方法的建立

以非洲山毛豆叶片为材料,对非洲山毛豆总蛋白质3种提取方法(TCA/丙酮沉淀法、尿素/硫脲法和酚-甲醇/醋酸铵沉淀法)以及3种蛋白裂解液进行比较分析。结果表明,采用酚-甲醇/醋酸铵沉淀法提取非洲山毛豆叶片总蛋白,用蛋白裂解液(7mol/L尿素,2mol/L硫脲,4%CHAPS,40mmol/LTris-base,1%Bio-LytepH3.5-10,65mmol/LDTT)裂解蛋白1h,2-DE图谱分离到的蛋白点效果最好。此方法适合于色素、多酚及黄酮类次生代谢物含量较多的非洲山毛豆叶片总蛋白制备方法。     

硝酸纤维膜和丙酮沉淀尿蛋白质保存方法的比较

硝酸纤维膜法是一种简单、快速、经济的尿液蛋白质保存方法,但其与传统尿液蛋白质丙酮沉淀方法的差异有待进一步研究。相同尿液分别经硝酸纤维膜法和丙酮沉淀法制备尿蛋白质,经液相串联质谱分析鉴定蛋白质,采用谱图数定量,研究两种不同方法的差别。结果显示硝酸纤维膜法和丙酮沉淀法鉴定蛋白质数目几乎相同,鉴定蛋白质在谱图数的分布上几乎相同,鉴定蛋白质在蛋白质变异系数的分布上也几乎相同。因此,硝酸纤维膜法处理尿蛋白质与丙酮沉淀法基本一致,可以应用于大规模临床尿液样本的保存。     

Preparation of protein extracts from recalcitrant plant tissues: an evaluation of different methods for two-dimensional gel electrophoresis analysis

This study focuses on the specific problems of protein extraction from recalcitrant plant tissues and evaluates several methods to bypass them. Sample preparation is a critical step in a two-dimensional gel electrophoresis proteome approach and is absolutely essential for good results. We evaluated four methods: the classical trichloroacetic acid (TCA)/acetone precipitation, TCA/acetone precipitation and fractionation, an alternative based on fractionation and without precipitation, and phenol extraction methanol/ammonium acetate precipitation. We optimized the phenol extraction protocol for small amounts of tissue, which is essential when the study material is limited. The protocol was optimized for banana (Musa spp.) and was subsequently applied to two other plant species: apple (Malus domestica L.) and potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). Banana (Musa spp.) is a good representative of a "difficult" plant species since it contains many interfering metabolites. Only classical TCA/acetone precipitation and phenol extraction methods proved useful as standard methods. Both methods are associated with a minor but reproducible loss of proteins. Every extraction method and the subsequent analytical procedure have their physicochemical limitations; both methods should be investigated before selecting an appropriate protocol. The study, which is presented in this paper, is useful for guiding the experimental setup of many other nonmodel species, containing various interfering elements.     

西花蓟马蛋白的提取及双向电泳体系的建立

【目的】蛋白样品的制备是获得良好双向凝胶电泳(2-DE)图谱的前提,建立合理的西花蓟马蛋白的双向电泳体系,获得分辨率较高、重复性较好的图谱,能够为后续的研究提供有力支撑。【方法】实验以西花蓟马成虫为实验材料,对比了饱和酚法、TCA/丙酮法和直接裂解法3种蛋白提取方法,从中选出最适宜双向电泳分析的一种蛋白提取方法。【结果】3种方法蛋白提取率差异显著,直接裂解法蛋白提取率最高,饱和酚法的蛋白提取率最低;3种方法的SDS-PAGE条带数差异不明显;TCA/丙酮法的双向凝胶图谱效果最好,蛋白点最多。【结论】TCA/丙酮法能够有效去除西花蓟马蛋白中的干扰物质,是最适合西花蓟马双向凝胶电泳的蛋白提取方法,为后续西花蓟马在蛋白组学方面的研究奠定了基础。     

Development of an acetone/water fractional precipitation process for purification of paclitaxel from plant cell cultures

This study investigated the efficiency of acetone/water fractional precipitation for the purification of paclitaxel from plant cell cultures. Adding distilled water at room temperature into an acetone solution of dissolved crude extract until the acetone/water ratio became 40:60, 30:70, 20:80, and 10:90 (v/v) and stirring the mixture for 10 min at room temperature resulted in paclitaxel yields of 54.3, 89.1, 95.5, and 97.6%, respectively. With an acetone/water ratio of 40:60, v/v, a high yield of paclitaxel (84.8 ~ 86.0%) was produced by an additional 2 h storage at a low temperature (4oC) without additional mixing, or at room temperature with additional mixing. In contrast, preparing the 40:60 (v/v) acetone/water mixture at a low temperature (4oC) and mixing for 10 min at a low temperature, a similar high yield (~ 87.9%) of paclitaxel was obtained immediately. Thus, increasing the proportion of distilled water, or decreasing the temperature of the added water were confirmed as important for obtaining high yields of paclitaxel by acetone/water fractional precipitation.     

Quantitation of yeast total proteins in sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis sample buffer for uniform loading

Proteins in sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS–PAGE) sample buffer are difficult to quantitate due to SDS and reducing agents being in the buffer. Although acetone precipitation has long been used to clean up proteins from detergents and salts, previous studies showed that protein recovery from acetone precipitation varies from 50 to 100% depending on the samples tested. Here, this article shows that acetone precipitates proteins highly efficiently from SDS–PAGE sample buffer and that quantitative recovery is achieved in 5 min at room temperature. Moreover, precipitated proteins are resolubilized with urea/guanidine, rather than with SDS. Thus, the resolubilized samples are readily quantifiable with Bradford reagent without using SDS-compatible assays.     

The activator of cerebroside sulphatase. Purification from human liver and identification as a protein.

1) A heat-stable activator of human sulphatase A (cerebroside sulphatase) was purified from human liver. It is required for the enzymatic degradation of cerebroside sulphates (sulphatides) in buffers (ionic strength greater than or equal 0.2) with osmolarity in the physiological range. 2) The purification steps involve extraction, acetone precipitation, heat treatment, isoelectric focusing and gel filtration. 3) Based on the definition of a specific activator unit, the purification of the final preparation was approximately 2000-fold over the acetone precipitation and several thousand-fold in the overall procedure. 4) The purified activator migrated as a single protein band when subjected to gel electrophoresis. Its effect was abolished after treatement with pronase E. The apparent molecular weight as determined by gel filtration was 21 500 +/- 1500; the isoelectric point was 4.3. 5) The activating effect of this protein factor and of taurodeoxycholate on cerebroside sulphatase activity was compared on a weight and molar basis.     

Sample preparation and 2-DE procedure for protein expression profiling of black microcolonial fungi

The ecology and stress adaptation of black rock inhabiting fungi in hot and cold extreme environments are not yet well understood. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) is a promising tool to study the protein expression profiling and the metabolic status of microorganisms under stress conditions. The sample preparation has been shown to be the bottleneck for high resolution protein separation in 2-DE. For this purpose conditions must be optimized to obtain reliable and reproducible results. In addition, due to a multilayered and strongly melanized cell wall of black microcolonial fungi, special protocols for cell disruption and processing are required. In the present study, the protocol for protein extraction?was established and optimized for the black yeast Exophiala jeanselmei MA 2853. The same protocol was successfully examined also for the meristematic fungus Coniosporium?perforans MA 1299. Among the three procedures evaluated, trichloroacetic acid (TCA) precipitation, TCA/acetone precipitation, and phenol extraction combined with methanol/ammonium acetate precipitation, the latter showed to be the best method for black yeasts and meristematic fungi. Penicillium chrysogenum was used as reference strain.     

Protein extraction from plant tissues for 2DE and its application in proteomic analysis

Plant tissues contain large amounts of secondary compounds that significantly interfere with protein extraction and 2DE analysis. Thus, sample preparation is a crucial step prior to 2DE in plant proteomics. This tutorial highlights the guidelines that need to be followed to perform an adequate total protein extraction before 2DE in plant proteomics. We briefly describe the history, development, and feature of major sample preparation methods for the 2DE analysis of plant tissues, that is, trichloroacetic acid/acetone precipitation and phenol extraction. We introduce the interfering compounds in plant tissues and the general guidelines for tissue disruption, protein precipitation and resolubilization. We describe in details the advantages, limitations, and application of the trichloroacetic acid/acetone precipitation and phenol extraction methods to enable the readers to select the appropriate method for a specific species, tissue, or cell type. The current applications of the sample preparation methods in plant proteomics in the literature are analyzed. A comparative proteomic analysis between male and female plants of Pistacia chinensis is used as an example to represent the sample preparation methodology in 2DE‐based proteomics. Finally, the current limitations and future development of these sample preparation methods are discussed. This Tutorial is part of the International Proteomics Tutorial Programme (IPTP17).     

IPG-strips versus off-gel fractionation: advantages and limits of two-dimensional PAGE in separation of microsomal fractions of frequently used plant species and tissues

The crucial cellular role of membrane proteins is generally known for all life forms. Depending on the species, tissue, compartment, function and physiological condition, membranes differ in their protein and lipid profiles. Additionally, occurrence of microdomains hampers quantitative protein solubilisation and therefore membrane proteomics remain a major challenge. In the present study sample preparation (TCA/acetone and methanol/chloroform precipitation with and without SDS pre-solubilisation) for two-dimensional PAGE were compared for microsomal fractions of leaves (Arabidopsis thaliana, Nicotiana tabaccum, Pisum sativum) and roots (P. sativum, Zea mays). Generally, pre-solubilisation with SDS impaired the resolution of the gels. All samples showed higher spot yields with TCA/acetone precipitation. Finally, we compared the results of conventional 2D-PAGE (IPG/SDS-PAGE) and the combination of off-gel fractionation in the first-dimension, 10% urea-SDS-PAGE in the second-dimension. Results showed that more spots are present in the alkaline pH range after off-gel fractionation then on conventional 2D-PAGE. For the first time, off-gel fractionation was combined with SDS/SDS-PAGE and BAC/SDS-PAGE to improve the resolution after off-gel fractionation. Transmembrane domains and GRAVY were calculated for all significantly identified spots resulting from the MALDI-TOF-TOF mass spectrometry showing that in the second dimension after off-gel fractionation 10.3% more transmembrane proteins were identified compared to IPG/SDS-PAGE.     

Assessment of sample preparation methods for metaproteomics of extracellular proteins

Enzyme discovery in individual strains of microorganisms is compromised by the limitations of pure culturing. In principle, metaproteomics allows for fractionation and study of different parts of the protein complement but has hitherto mainly been used to identify intracellular proteins. However, the extracellular environment is also expected to comprise a wealth of information regarding important proteins. An absolute requirement for metaproteomic studies of protein expression, and irrespective of downstream methods for analysis, is that sample preparation methods provide clean, concentrated and representative samples of the protein complement. A battery of methods for concentration, extraction, precipitation and resolubilization of proteins in the extracellular environment of a constructed microbial community was assessed by means of 2D gel electrophoresis and image analysis to elucidate whether it is possible to make the extracellular protein complement available for metaproteomic analysis. Most methods failed to provide pure samples and therefore negatively influenced protein gel migration and gel background clarity. However, one direct precipitation method (TCA-DOC/acetone) and one extraction/precipitation method (phenol/methanol) provided complementary high quality 2D gels that allowed for high spot detection ability and thereby also spot detection of less abundant extracellular proteins.