Activity Based High-Throughput Screening for Novel O-GlcNAc Transferase Substrates Using a Dynamic Peptide Microarray

PLoS One. 2016 Mar 9;11(3):e0151085. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0151085. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

O-GlcNAcylation is a reversible and dynamic protein post-translational modification in mammalian cells. The O-GlcNAc cycle is catalyzed by O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) and O-GlcNAcase (OGA). O-GlcNAcylation plays important role in many vital cellular events including transcription, cell cycle regulation, stress response and protein degradation, and altered O-GlcNAcylation has long been implicated in cancer, diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases. Recently, numerous approaches have been developed to identify OGT substrates and study their function, but there is still a strong demand for highly efficient techniques. Here we demonstrated the utility of the peptide microarray approach to discover novel OGT substrates and study its specificity. Interestingly, the protein RBL-2, which is a key regulator of entry into cell division and may function as a tumor suppressor, was identified as a substrate for three isoforms of OGT. Using peptide Ala scanning, we found Ser 420 is one possible O-GlcNAc site in RBL-2. Moreover, substitution of Ser 420, on its own, inhibited OGT activity, raising the possibility of mechanism-based development for selective OGT inhibitors. This approach will prove useful for both discovery of novel OGT substrates and studying OGT specificity.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferases / metabolism*
  • Peptides / metabolism*
  • Protein Array Analysis*
  • Retinoblastoma-Like Protein p130 / metabolism
  • Substrate Specificity

Substances

  • Peptides
  • RBL2 protein, human
  • Retinoblastoma-Like Protein p130
  • N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferases
  • O-GlcNAc transferase

Grants and funding

This work was supported by a scholarship (file No. 201306180061) to JS from the China Scholarship Council (http://www.csc.edu.cn/). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of manuscript. RR is employed by the commercial company “PamGene International BV”. PamGene International BV provided support in the form of salary for the author RR, but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific role of the author RR is articulated in the “author contributions” section.