Phosphate-affinity Electrophoresis Research Articles

Abstract 69: Cardiac Fibrosis Induced by Mkk6-p38 Activation Alters Myocardial Stiffness and Myofilament Function

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) accounts for at least half of the patients with heart failure, but to date there are no proven therapies for these patients. Cardiac fibrosis and increased collagen content plays an important role in the pathophysiology of HFpEF. Studies in human HFpEF patients have indicated increased cardiac fibrosis, myocardial stiffness and myofilament calcium sensitivity. However, it is unclear how and if cardiac fibrosis directly alters myofilament function. In this study we used a new model of cardiac fibrosis genetically induced by the constitutive activation of MKK6-p38 (MKK6-Tg) signaling specifically in resident cardiac fibroblasts to determine the effect of fibrosis on myofilament stiffness and function. The MKK6-Tg mice develop interstitial and perivascular fibrosis in the heart accompanied with severe diastolic dysfunction, although systolic function remains normal. We measured the passive stiffness and isometric contractile properties of demembranated papillary muscle preparations. Our results show an increase in passive stiffness in demembranated papillary muscles from MKK6-Tg mice compared to NTG littermates when stretched to 24% from sarcomere length of 2.0 μM. Passive tension at SL=2.3 was significantly increased in MKK6-Tg mice (28±4 vs. 13±3 mN/mm 2 , P<0.05) compared to NTG mice, which was ascribed to changes in Titin isoform as well as extracellular matrix composition. The MKK6-Tg mice also show an increase in Ca 2+ sensitivity (pCa 50 =5.72±0.05 vs. 5.56±0.02, P<0.05). This was associated with an increased rate of force redevelopment in MKK6-Tg mice compared to NTG littermates (k TR =35±8 vs. 22±3 s -1 ). Towards understanding the mechanism of these myofilament changes we performed phosphate affinity electrophoresis and saw decreased phosphorylation of both Troponin I and Troponin T in MKK6-Tg hearts. There was no change in troponin I phosphorylation level at Ser23/24, indicating role of none-PKA mediated phosphorylation in mechanical changes seen in this model.

Increased level of phosphorylated desmin and its degradation products in heart failure

Although several risk factors such as infarct size have been identified, the progression/severity of heart failure (HF) remains difficult to predict in clinical practice. Using an experimental rat model of ischemic HF and phosphoproteomic technology, we found an increased level of phosphorylated desmin in the left ventricle (LV) of HF-rats. The purpose of the present work is to assess whether desmin is a circulating or only a tissue biomarker of HF. We used several antibodies in order to detect desmin, its proteolytic fragments and its phosphorylated form in LV and plasma by western blot, phosphate affinity electrophoresis, mass spectrometry and immunofluorescence. Plasma was treated with combinatorial peptide ligand library or depleted for albumin and immunoglobulins to increase the sensitivity of detection. We found a 2-fold increased serine-desmin phosphorylation in the LV of HF-rats, mainly in the insoluble fraction, suggesting the formation of desmin aggregates. Desmin cleavage products were also detected in the LV of HF rats, indicating that the increased phosphorylation of desmin results in more susceptibility to proteolytic activity, likely mediated by calpain activity. The native desmin and its degradation products were undetectable in the plasma of rat, mouse or human. These data suggest the potential of serine-phosphorylated form of desmin and its degradation products, but not of desmin itself, as tissue but not circulating biomarkers of HF.

Phosphoregulation of the Titin-cap Protein Telethonin in Cardiac Myocytes

Telethonin (also known as titin-cap or t-cap) is a muscle-specific protein whose mutation is associated with cardiac and skeletal myopathies through unknown mechanisms. Our previous work identified cardiac telethonin as an interaction partner for the protein kinase D catalytic domain. In this study, kinase assays used in conjunction with MS and site-directed mutagenesis confirmed telethonin as a substrate for protein kinase D and Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent kinase II in vitro and identified Ser-157 and Ser-161 as the phosphorylation sites. Phosphate affinity electrophoresis and MS revealed endogenous telethonin to exist in a constitutively bis-phosphorylated form in isolated adult rat ventricular myocytes and in mouse and rat ventricular myocardium. Following heterologous expression in myocytes by adenoviral gene transfer, wild-type telethonin became bis-phosphorylated, whereas S157A/S161A telethonin remained non-phosphorylated. Nevertheless, both proteins localized predominantly to the sarcomeric Z-disc, where they partially replaced endogenous telethonin. Such partial replacement with S157A/S161A telethonin disrupted transverse tubule organization and prolonged the time to peak of the intracellular Ca(2+) transient and increased its variance. These data reveal, for the first time, that cardiac telethonin is constitutively bis-phosphorylated and suggest that such phosphorylation is critical for normal telethonin function, which may include maintenance of transverse tubule organization and intracellular Ca(2+) transients.

Application of microchip phosphate-affinity electrophoresis to measurement of protease activity in complex samples

We previously demonstrated microchip phosphate-affinity electrophoresis (μPAE) for activity measurement of kinases and phosphatases. In the current work, we extend the μPAE application to a protease: caspase-3 (CASP3). We designed a substrate peptide modified with both a fluorescent tag for label and a phosphate tag for separation. The CASP3 cleavage reaction split the two tags and made the fluorescent fragment migrate electrophoretically. The CASP3 activity was correlated with the amount of the migrating fragment. This assay was proven to be compatible with a crude cell lysate.

Activity measurement of protein kinase and protein phosphatase by microchip phosphate-affinity electrophoresis

We previously proposed microchip-based phosphate-affinity electrophoresis (μPAE) and demonstrated its application to activity measurement of a tyrosine kinase, c-Src. In this study, we extended the μPAE application to a serine/threonine kinase, protein kinase A (PKA), and to a tyrosine phosphatase, leukocyte antigen-related protein tyrosine phosphatase (LAR PTPase). For standard peptide samples, we obtained linear calibration plots, and the limits of detection were 1.2% (PKA) and 1.5% (LAR PTPase) product peptides in the total peptides. The μPAE was also proven to be effective for unpurified enzyme reaction products.

Characterization of multiple alternative forms of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K by phosphate‐affinity electrophoresis

The phosphorylation of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K (hnRNP K) is thought to play an important role in cell regulation and signal transduction. However, the relationship between hnRNP K phosphorylation and cellular events has only been indirectly examined, and the phosphorylated forms of endogenous hnRNP K have not been biochemically characterized in detail. In this study, we extensively examined the phosphorylated forms of endogenous hnRNP K by direct protein-chemical characterization using phosphate-affinity electrophoresis followed by immunoblotting and MS. Phosphate-affinity electrophoresis enabled us to sensitively detect and separate the phosphorylated forms of hnRNP K. When we used 2-DE with phosphate-affinity SDS-PAGE in the second dimension, the nuclear fraction contained more than 20 spots of endogenous hnRNP K on the 2-D map. We determined that the multiple forms of hnRNP K were produced mainly by alternative splicing of the single hnRNP K gene and phosphorylation of Ser116 and/or Ser284. Furthermore, the subcellular localization of these proteins revealed by the 2-D gel correlated with their phosphorylation states and alternative splicing patterns. The results also indicated that the multiple forms of hnRNP K were differentially modulated in response to external stimulation with bacterial lipopolysaccharide or serum.

Phosphate‐affinity electrophoresis on a microchip for determination of protein kinase activity

We describe microchip-based phosphate-affinity electrophoresis (microPAE) for separation of peptides aimed at determination of kinase activity. The microPAE exploits two recently published technologies: autonomous sample injection for PDMS microchips and a phosphate-specific affinity ligand, Phos-tag. We prepared a fluorescently labeled substrate peptide, specific to human c-Src, and its phosphorylated form. We synthesized a Phos-tag-poly(dimethylacrylamide) conjugate. The conjugate and the sample solutions were autonomously injected into a PDMS-glass hybrid microchip. The two solutions were contacted together in the microchannel. When the peptides were electrophoresed into the Phos-tag-poly(dimethylacrylamide) region, the phosphorylated peptide was specifically trapped, and separated from the nonphosphorylated peptide in 10 s. The results were quantified by the areas of the fluorescence peaks. The calibration plot obtained with standard samples showed an excellent linearity and a LOD of 0.9% phosphorylated peptide among the total peptides. For c-Src-reacted samples, the results from the microPAE were in good agreement with those from matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The microPAE was also successful in the presence of inhibitors for c-Src. The measured 50% inhibitory concentration values for staurosporine, PP2, and SU6656 were in good agreement with the literature values.

キナーゼプロファイリングのための新しいリン酸アフィニティー電気泳動法

We developed a novel type of phosphate-affinity polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis using an alkoxide-bridged dinuclear manganese(II) complex as a phosphate-binding tag, Phos-tag. The phosphate-affinity site is a polyacrylamide-bound Mn2+-Phos-tag that enables the mobility shift detection of phosphorylated proteins from their nonphosphorylated counterpart in an SDS-PAGE gel and the quantitative analysis of kinase reactions. Herein, we describe three applications of protein kinase profiling using the phosphate-affinity electrophoresis (Mn2+-Phos-tag SDS-PAGE). The first application is in vitro kinase activity profiling for the analysis of varied phosphoprotein status. The activity profiles of six kinds of kinases were determined using a substrate, Tau, which has a number of phosphorylation sites. Each kinase demonstrated characteristic multiple bands up-shifted from the nonphosphorylated Tau due to differences in the phosphorylation sites and stoichiometry. The second is in vivo kinase activity profiling for the analysis of protein phosphorylation involved in intracellular signal transduction. The time-course changes in the EGF-induced phosphorylation levels of Shc and MAPK in A431 cells were visualized as highly up-shifted migration bands by subsequent immunoblotting analysis. The final application is in vitro kinase inhibition profiling for the quantitative screening of kinase-specific inhibitors. The inhibition profile of a tyrosine kinase, Abl, was determined using the substrate Abltide-GST and the approved inhibitor Glivec. The dose-dependent inhibition of Glivec was determined by a change in the ratio of the monophosphorylated and nonphosphorylated Abltide-GST bands.

Phosphate-binding Tag, a New Tool to Visualize Phosphorylated Proteins

We introduce two methods for the visualization of phosphorylated proteins using alkoxide-bridged dinuclear metal (i.e. Zn(2+) or Mn(2+)) complexes as novel phosphate-binding tag (Phos-tag) molecules. Both Zn(2+)- and Mn(2+)-Phos-tag molecules preferentially capture phosphomonoester dianions bound to Ser, Thr, and Tyr residues. One method is based on an ECL system using biotin-pendant Zn(2+)-Phos-tag and horseradish peroxidase-conjugated streptavidin. We demonstrate the electroblotting analyses of protein phosphorylation status by the phosphate-selective ECL signals. Another method is based on the mobility shift of phosphorylated proteins in SDS-PAGE with polyacrylamide-bound Mn(2+)-Phos-tag. Phosphorylated proteins in the gel are visualized as slower migration bands compared with corresponding dephosphorylated proteins. We demonstrate the kinase and phosphatase assays by phosphate affinity electrophoresis (Mn(2+)-Phos-tag SDS-PAGE).