Cell signaling, post-translational protein modifications and NMR spectroscopy

J Biomol NMR. 2012 Nov;54(3):217-36. doi: 10.1007/s10858-012-9674-x. Epub 2012 Sep 26.

Abstract

Post-translationally modified proteins make up the majority of the proteome and establish, to a large part, the impressive level of functional diversity in higher, multi-cellular organisms. Most eukaryotic post-translational protein modifications (PTMs) denote reversible, covalent additions of small chemical entities such as phosphate-, acyl-, alkyl- and glycosyl-groups onto selected subsets of modifiable amino acids. In turn, these modifications induce highly specific changes in the chemical environments of individual protein residues, which are readily detected by high-resolution NMR spectroscopy. In the following, we provide a concise compendium of NMR characteristics of the main types of eukaryotic PTMs: serine, threonine, tyrosine and histidine phosphorylation, lysine acetylation, lysine and arginine methylation, and serine, threonine O-glycosylation. We further delineate the previously uncharacterized NMR properties of lysine propionylation, butyrylation, succinylation, malonylation and crotonylation, which, altogether, define an initial reference frame for comprehensive PTM studies by high-resolution NMR spectroscopy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acetylation
  • Acylation
  • Alkylation
  • Amino Acids / chemistry
  • Amino Acids / metabolism
  • Arginine / metabolism
  • Cell Communication
  • Eukaryotic Cells / metabolism
  • Glycosylation
  • Histidine / metabolism
  • Lysine / metabolism
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy*
  • Methylation
  • Phosphorylation
  • Protein Processing, Post-Translational*
  • Proteins / chemistry*
  • Proteins / metabolism
  • Serine / metabolism
  • Threonine / metabolism
  • Tyrosine / metabolism

Substances

  • Amino Acids
  • Proteins
  • Threonine
  • Tyrosine
  • Serine
  • Histidine
  • Arginine
  • Lysine