Multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry for the discovery and quantification of O-GlcNAc-modified proteins

Anal Chem. 2014 Jan 7;86(1):395-402. doi: 10.1021/ac401821d. Epub 2013 Dec 16.

Abstract

O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) is a post-translational modification regulating proteins involved in a variety of cellular processes and diseases. Unfortunately, O-GlcNAc remains challenging to detect and quantify by shotgun mass spectrometry (MS) where it is time-consuming and tedious. Here, we investigate the potential of Multiple Reaction Monitoring Mass Spectrometry (MRM-MS), a targeted MS method, to detect and quantify native O-GlcNAc modified peptides without extensive labeling and enrichment. We report the ability of MRM-MS to detect a standard O-GlcNAcylated peptide and show that the method is robust to quantify the amount of O-GlcNAcylated peptide with a method detection limit of 3 fmol. In addition, when diluted by 100-fold in a trypsin-digested whole cell lysate, the O-GlcNAcylated peptide remains detectable. Next, we apply this strategy to study glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK-3β), a kinase able to compete with O-GlcNAc transferase and modify identical site on proteins. We demonstrate that GSK-3β is itself modified by O-GlcNAc in human embryonic stem cells (hESC). Indeed, by only using gel electrophoresis to grossly enrich GSK-3β from whole cell lysate, we discover by MRM-MS a novel O-GlcNAcylated GSK-3β peptide, bearing 3 potential O-GlcNAcylation sites. We confirm our finding by quantifying the increase of O-GlcNAcylation, following hESC treatment with an O-GlcNAc hydrolase inhibitor. This novel O-GlcNAcylation could potentially be involved in an autoinhibition mechanism. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report utilizing MRM-MS to detect native O-GlcNAc modified peptides. This could potentially facilitate rapid discovery and quantification of new O-GlcNAcylated peptides/proteins.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acetylglucosamine / analysis*
  • Acetylglucosamine / genetics
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein / analysis*
  • Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein / genetics
  • Embryonic Stem Cells / chemistry
  • Embryonic Stem Cells / physiology
  • Humans
  • Mass Spectrometry / methods*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Protein Processing, Post-Translational / genetics

Substances

  • CREB1 protein, human
  • Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein
  • Acetylglucosamine