The state of the art in the analysis of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis images

Software-based image analysis is a crucial step in the biological interpretation of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis experiments. Recent significant advances in image processing methods combined with powerful computing hardware have enabled the routine analysis of large experiments. We cover the process starting with the imaging of 2-D gels, quantitation of spots, creation of expression profiles to statistical expression analysis followed by the presentation of results. Challenges for analysis software as well as good practices are highlighted. We emphasize image warping and related methods that are able to overcome the difficulties that are due to varying migration positions of spots between gels. Spot detection, quantitation, normalization, and the creation of expression profiles are described in detail. The recent development of consensus spot patterns and complete expression profiles enables one to take full advantage of statistical methods for expression analysis that are well established for the analysis of DNA microarray experiments. We close with an overview of visualization and presentation methods (proteome maps) and current challenges in the field. An erratum to this article can be found at     

A novel approach to spot detection for two-dimensional gel electrophoresis images using pixel value collection

Separation of complex mixtures of proteins by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) is a fundamental component of current proteomic technology. Quantitative analysis of the images generated by digitization of such gels is critical for the identification of alterations in protein expression within a given biological system. Despite the availability of several commercially available software packages designed for this purpose, image analysis is extremely resource intensive, subjective and remains a major bottleneck. In addition to reducing throughput, the requirement for manual intervention results in the introduction of operator subjectivity, which can limit the statistical significance of the numerical data generated. A key requirement of image analysis is the accurate definition of protein spot boundaries using a suitable method of image segmentation. We describe a method of spot detection applicable to 2-DE image files using a segmentation method involving pixel value collection via serial analysis of the image through its range of density levels. This algorithm is reproducible, sensitive, accurate and primarily designed to be automatic, removing operator subjectivity. Furthermore, it is believed that this method may offer the potential for improved spot detection over currently available software.     

Computer analysis of double-labeled two-dimensional electrophoresis gels

A computerized process for the automatic analysis of double-label autoradiography after two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis has been developed. Matching fluorographs and autoradiographs produced from gels containing 3H- and 14C-labeled proteins are digitized by a rotating drum densitometer and analyzed by the Man-computer Interactive Data Analysis System III. This system locates corresponding protein spots in the films with edge-detection algorithms, converts spot density readings to isotopic disintegrations by reference to standard curves, and computes a 3H:14C ratio for each spot in the gels. On the average, calculated ratios are accurate to approximately 9% for test strips of polyacrylamide gel containing uniform mixtures of 3H and 14C. Values obtained for two-dimensional gels containing n protein spots with a known 3H:14C ratio of 8.6 +/- 0.1 are as follows: 8.1 +/- 1.4 (n = 268), 8.8 +/- 2.1 (n = 278), 9.1 +/- 1.7 (n = 245), and 8.8 +/- 2.2 (n = 223). The computer process greatly reduces the time required to precisely compare two complex protein mixtures and has sufficient precision to detect a doubling in the biosynthesis of any individual protein.     

Identification of mitochondrial proteins on two-dimensional electrophoresis gels of extracts of adult Drosophila melanogaster

Several hundred proteins have been resolved on two-dimensional gels of extracts of [³⁵S]methionine-labeled adult Drosophila melanogaster. 27 of these polypeptides disappear from the gel pattern after feeding the K⁺ ionophore nonactin. These proteins have been identified as mitochondrial, since the two-dimensional gel pattern of extracts of isolated mitochondria correlates well with the pattern of the proteins missing from that of nonactin-treated flies. Nine new proteins also appear on the two-dimensional gels of the extracts from the nonactin-treated flies. Apparently, these nine proteins are precursors of the mature mitochondrial forms. These particular data support the concept that processing of many of the cytoplasmically synthesized mitochondrial proteins requires a specific membrane potential, and that some of these proteins are modified intramitochondrially. However, using [³⁵S]methionine incorporation techniques, not all labeled polypeptides disappear from mitochondria during such treatment. Feeding similarly radiolabeled flies with chloramphenicol, an inhibitor of mitochondrial protein synthesis, results in the disappearance of only one protein from the gel pattern with the concurrent appearance of a ‘new’ high-molecular-weight polypeptide. Collectively, these data show that a specific group of [³⁵S]methionine-labeled mitochondrial proteins can be identified by selective inhibition of mitochondrial function in whole cell protein maps of adult D. melanogaster.     

血清样本双向电泳操作条件的优化

为建立分辨率高、重复性好的血清样品双向电泳技术,本文从血清样品的水化、等电聚焦、胶条的平衡、胶条的染色等几个方面对双向电泳操作条件进行了分析。结果表明采用以下的操作过程可以获得分辨率高、重复性好的双向电泳结果：样品水化2小时（25℃);胶条泡涨12-16小时(25℃);17cm胶条的等点聚焦程序采用 250V线性1小时/1000V线性1小时/4000V线性2小时/8000V线性3小时/8000V线性10小时/500V快速0.5小时/,11cm的胶条的等点聚焦程序采用250V慢速4小时/1000V快速2小时/4000V快速1小时/8000V快速2.5小时/8000V快速7小时/500V快速30分钟;两次平衡各15-20分钟;银染条件为固定两小时或过夜,敏化50-60分钟,定影30-40分钟,显影10分钟左右,终止10分钟）。这一研究对利用双向电泳分析血清蛋白具有很好的参考价值。     

Hsp27-2D-gel electrophoresis is a diagnostic tool to differentiate primary desminopathies from myofibrillar myopathies

Small heat shock proteins prevent abnormal protein folding and accumulation. We analyzed the expression of hsp27 and αB-crystallin in skeletal muscle specimens of patients with desminopathies, plectinopathies, myotilinopathy, and other myofibrillar myopathies by means of differential centrifugation, 2D-gel electrophoresis, Western blotting, and mass spectrometry. Hsp27-P82 and -P15 as well as αB-crystallin-P59 and -P45 are the major serine phosphorylation isoforms in normal and diseased human skeletal muscle. 2D-gel-electrophoresis revealed spots of hsp27 in a range of pH 5.3-6.4 in samples of all skeletal muscle specimens, except for the seven desminopathies. They indicated a shift of the main hsp27-spot to alkaline pH degrees, which may help to differentiate primary desminopathies from other myopathies with structural pathology of the desmin cytoskeleton.     

适于蛋白双向电泳的水稻叶片样品提取方法初探

在水稻基因组测序完成后,利用蛋白质组学技术揭示水稻基因功能的研究,已成为水稻分子生物学研究的热点之一。水稻叶片作为DNA研究的便利材料被经常使用,但对蛋白质研究来说,占叶片全蛋白50%～60%的核酮糖二磷酸羧化酶（RuBP羧化酶）对低丰度蛋白常常造成掩盖。以水稻叶片为材料,用不同浓度的聚乙二醇（PEG）去除叶片中RuBP羧化酶。通过SDS-PAGE垂直电泳比较发现,浓度为17%的PEG对去除RuBP羧化酶效果最好,所获得的蛋白质样品可以得到质量较高的双向电泳图谱。     

Very-high-resolution two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of proteins using giant gels

An improved high-resolution two-dimensional gel system for separating complex protein mixtures is described that allows a threefold increase in the number of proteins detected. Like the original O'Farrell system, proteins are separated in the first dimension by isoelectric point and in the second dimension by size. The improved resolution results primarily from a 2.5-fold increase in the size of both dimensions. Although best resolution is obtained by application of <100 μg of protein containing >5 × 10⁶ cpm, as much as 150 μg of protein may be applied without appreciable loss of resolution. Useful separations may be made with up to 1.5 mg. By doubling the thickness of both dimensions, as much as 3 mg of protein can be separated into 300–400 separate peaks.     

Ultraviolet imaging densitometry of unstained gels for two-dimensional electrophoresis

A system suitable for ultraviolet imaging densitometry of two-dimensional electrophoretic gels that are unstained is described, together with its applications. A flying-spot densitometer linked with a personal computer was used for data acquisition, generation of mapping data, and image processing. Randomly distributed zones of proteins on two-dimensional gels were detected at 280 nm without being stained by two-dimensional scanning, and the densitometric value of each pixel (0.2 x 0.2 mm) was memorized by the computer, which generated a mapping pattern with density contours. The amount and densitometric value of cytochrome c had a linear relationship in the range of 2-200 micrograms. Zone locations of bovine liver proteins separated on two-dimensional gels were indicated on a map expressed in X-Y coordinates, and the pIs and molecular weights could be calculated from the map by use of pI and molecular weight markers on the same gel.     

Current two-dimensional electrophoresis technology for proteomics

Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) with immobilized pH gradients (IPGs) combined with protein identification by mass spectrometry (MS) is currently the workhorse for proteomics. In spite of promising alternative or complementary technologies (e.g. multidimensional protein identification technology, stable isotope labelling, protein or antibody arrays) that have emerged recently, 2-DE is currently the only technique that can be routinely applied for parallel quantitative expression profiling of large sets of complex protein mixtures such as whole cell lysates. 2-DE enables the separaration of complex mixtures of proteins according to isoelectric point (pI), molecular mass (M_r), solubility, and relative abundance. Furthermore, it delivers a map of intact proteins, which reflects changes in protein expression level, isoforms or post-translational modifications. This is in contrast to liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry based methods, which perform analysis on peptides, where M_r and pI information is lost, and where stable isotope labelling is required for quantitative analysis. Today's 2-DE technology with IPGs (Görg et al., Electrophoresis 2000, 21, 1037–1053), has overcome the former limitations of carrier ampholyte based 2-DE (O'Farrell, J. Biol. Chem. 1975, 250, 4007–4021) with respect to reproducibility, handling, resolution, and separation of very acidic and/or basic proteins. The development of IPGs between pH 2.5–12 has enabled the analysis of very alkaline proteins and the construction of the corresponding databases. Narrow-overlapping IPGs provide increased resolution (δpI = 0.001) and, in combination with prefractionation methods, the detection of low abundance proteins. Depending on the gel size and pH gradient used, 2-DE can resolve more than 5000 proteins simultaneously (˜2000 proteins routinely), and detect and quantify < 1 ng of protein per spot. In this article we describe the current 2-DE/MS workflow including the following topics: sample preparation, protein solubilization, and prefractionation; protein separation by 2-DE with IPGs; protein detection and quantitation; computer assisted analysis of 2-DE patterns; protein identification and characterization by MS; two-dimensional protein databases.     

利用双向电泳技术分离大豆矮秆突变体相关蛋白

矮秆是大豆育种的重要目标性状之一。本实验以大豆野生型东农42和矮秆突变体东泽11为材料,利用近年来发展起来的双向电泳技术,在蛋白质水平对两个材料的差异蛋白质进行筛选,目的是鉴定与矮秆突变体相关的蛋白,为基因克隆提供依据。通过对酚(Phenol)法与TCA／丙酮沉淀法二种提取方法、100μg和200μg两种加样量、考马斯亮蓝染色和银染两种染色方法的比较,发现用丙酮沉淀法提取叶片可溶性总蛋白、加样量为200μg进行电泳,用考马斯亮蓝染色的效果较好,从而建立了大豆叶片总蛋白双向电泳技术优化体系。用该体系对野生型与突变体叶片全蛋白的差异分析,鉴定出９个蛋白差异点,其中６个上调表达,３个下调表达。     

Bacterial genome mapping by two-dimensional pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (2D-PFGE)

Macrorestriction mapping is often the first step toward a thorough physical and genetic characterization of a bacterial genome. The problem of deducing the order of partially or completely digested macrorestriction fragments to yield a physical genome map may readily be solved by applying twodimensional pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (2D-PFGE) techniques. These powerful methods are quick and technically easy to perform; specifically, they are independent of DNA probes and should therefore be applicable to any bacterial species irrespective of its prior genetic characterization. In this article, detailed step-by-step protocols are given to set up, run, and evaluate 2D pulsed-field gels. Two basic methods are described: partial/complete 2D gels of one restriction enzyme and complete/complete 2D gels of two different restriction enzymes. Other topics include preparation of bacterial genomic DNA, screening for suitable rare-cutting restriction enzymes and determination of optimal running conditions. Accompanied by many notes, these protocols are meant to offer the novice a sound and rapid access to these important methods.     

High-resolution two-dimensional electrophoresis with isoelectric focusing in immobilized pH gradients

Due to the high reproducibility of pH gradient slope and width, immobilized pH gradients (IPG) have been used as the first dimension of two-dimensional techniques in order to generate maps of constant spot position in the $\text{p}\text{M}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>r</mtext>}}$. However, when coupling IPG to SDS (sodium dodecyl sulphate) gels two problems were encountered: vertical streaking, due to incomplete zone solubilization in SDS, and horizontal streaking, due to spot fusion along the pH axis caused by the electroendosmosis of the charged Immobiline gels. Two methodical modifications are herewith described to overcome these drawbacks: (a) the SDS equilibrium time of the first-dimension gel has been prolonged to at least 30 min; (b) the SDS electrophoresis gel has been cast together with a starting gel, containing 2.5 mM of each Immobiline species used in the first dimension, which serves as a transition from the charged to the uncharged gel.     

湖南烙铁头蛇毒蛋白组分的双向电泳分析

烙铁头蛇是世界上剧毒的蛇种之一,其所携带的毒素能够导致严重的机体损伤。应用蛋白质双向电泳技术,对湖南烙铁头蛇蛇毒蛋白的蛋白质组分进行分析。通过等电聚焦和SDS-PAGE凝胶电泳分析获得完整的烙铁头蛇毒全蛋白质的图谱,经胶体考马斯亮蓝染色后,应用PDQuest软件对蛋白表达谱进行分析。通过等电聚焦和SDS-PAGE凝胶电泳有83个蛋白质组分被检测出来。其中大约90.00%的蛋白质的相对分子质量(Mr)分布在15～45 kDa之间,大约72.29%的蛋白质等电点(pI)在4.0～7.0之间。通过对烙铁头蛇毒的蛋白组学研究,获得其蛇毒蛋白质组分的表征特点,为后续进一步研究各组分的身份和潜在功能奠定基础,既可以提出新的治疗方案又可以为新的药理应用提供宝贵资源。     

一个新的多序列比对算法

多序列比对是生物信息学中基础而又重要的序列分析方法.本文提出一种新的多序列比对算法,该算法综合了渐进比对方法和迭代策略,采用加权函数以调整序列的有偏分布,用neighbor-joining方法构建指导树以确定渐进比对的顺序.通过对BAlibASE中142组蛋白质序列比对的测试,验证了本算法的有效性.与Multalin算法比较的结果表明,本算法能有效地提高分歧较大序列的比对准确率.     

Computer analysis of two-dimensional gels.

This work identifies statistical algorithms which need to be included in analysis of two-dimensional gels for accurate determination of differential changes. Two-dimensional electrophoresis is a powerful tool for determining differential protein expression in complex mixtures, but the methodology, to date, is not producing expected results due to the degree of gel variability. The new DIGE procedure, comparing two samples in the same gel, does eliminate some of the variability introduced with gel-to-gel comparison, but still has variability due to differences in dye binding, charge, and fluorescence. Introducing quality-assurance statistical algorithms is necessary to extract meaningful data from the gels. A quality-control analysis of replicate gels needs to be performed prior to using the set in the final analysis. Increasing replicates to five from the usual three can only add greater variability. A statistical "replicate quality" gel test needs to be done on the computer gel scans, and replicates with greater than 20-30% variability should not be used. In addition, since spot intensity data are not normally distributed, spot differential analysis cannot be a t-test. The Studentized Range has been suggested as a more accurate method for calculating significant difference.     

Markers for human placental trophoblasts in two-dimensional gel electrophoresis

Summary Primary cultures of trophoblasts established from human term placentae showed high viability and reproducibility. Two-dimensional gel patterns obtained by metabolically labeling the trophoblasts with [³⁵S]-methionine demonstrated that their pattern of gene expression was stable during the 6-d period investigated. Gel analysis demonstrated the keratins 7, 8, 14, 17, 18, and 19. Analysis of the gel pattern confirmed the presence of a small proportion of contaminating fibroblasts and lymphocytes. The gel patterns were compared with that of skin fibroblasts, peripheral lymphocytes, and epithelial cells to identify a group of proteins that are enriched in the trophoblasts and thus may be used as marker for these cells. This work was supported by the Danish Cancer Society, the Lundbeck Foundation, the Danish Medical Research Council, “Pedersholmlegatet,” and by “Anna og Jakob Jakobsens Legat.”     

二维电泳分离牛精子蛋白的技术研究

二维电泳是蛋白质分离技术并可由于对精子蛋白的分离。本研究旨在通过对双向电泳条件的研究摸索出一种适用于分离牛精子蛋白的二维电泳技术,并利用其对牛精子蛋白进行分离鉴定。在实验中,优化了等电聚焦程序,研究了精子蛋白的不同制备方法、不同上样量、不同胶条长度对电泳结果的影响。结果表明,采用尿素－盐酸胍两步裂解法裂解精子细胞制备蛋白,使用13cm非线性胶条进行蛋白二维电泳,能获得较好的电泳图谱。图谱经二维电泳软件分析,可检测出约800多个蛋白质点,分子量基本分布在10~100KD、等电点约为4~9的区域内。对精子蛋白二维电泳条件的摸索,为后续牛精子X、Y差异蛋白的检测和分析奠定了理论基础。     

Phylogeny of the Drosophila obscura group as inferred from one- and two-dimensional protein electrophoresis

The phylogenetic relationships of 15 species of the obscura group of Drosophila were analysed by use of one- and two-dimensional electrophoresis. Genetic distances based on two-dimensional data are five times smaller than those based on native proteins. From the data, it is proposed that the species radiation of the obscura group happened in two evolutionary bursts, the first one giving rise to at least four palearctic proto-lineages (bifasciata, obscura (including D. subsilvestris), subobscura, and microlabis) and one or two proto-nearctic lineages (affinis, pseudoobscura), and the second, more recent burst giving rise to the current speciation within lineages.     

Phylogeny of the Drosophila obscura group as inferred from one- and two-dimensional protein electrophoresis

The phylogenetic relationships of 15 species of the obscura group of Drosophila were analysed by use of one- and two-dimensional electrophoresis. Genetic distances based on two-dimensional data are five times smaller than those based on native proteins. From the data, it is proposed that the species radiation of the obscura group happened in two evolutionary bursts, the first one giving rise to at least four palearctic proto-lineages ( bifasciata, obscura (including D. subsilvestris ), subobscura , and microlabis ) and one or two proto-nearctic lineages ( affinis, pseudoobscura ), and the second, more recent burst giving rise to the current speciation within lineages.

Zusammenfassung

Phylogenie der Arten der Drosophila obscura-Gruppe abgeleitet von ein- und zweidimensionaler Protein-Elektrophorese
Die phylogenetischen Verwandtschaftsbeziehungen von 15 Arten der obscura -Gruppe der Gattung Drosophila wurden mit Hilfe von ein-und zweidimensionaler Elektrophorese von Proteinen untersucht. Die genetische Distanzen, die aus den Ergebnissen der zweidimensionalen Elektrophoresen ermittelt wurden, waren fünfmal kleiner als solche, die von nativen Proteinen kommen. Aufgrund der Untersuchungsergebnisse wird angenommen, daß die Radiation der Arten der obscura-Gruppe in zwei evolutiven Schüben erfolgt sei; der erste Schub hätte zu zumindest vier palaerktischen ( bifasciata, obscura mit D. subsilvestris, subobscura und microlabis ) und zwei proto-ne arktischen Linien ( affinis, pseudoobscura ) geführt. In einem zweiten Schub wären dann die endgültigen rezenten Arten entstanden.