We previously implicated tumor necrosis factor-␣ converting enzyme (TACE/ADAM17) in the processing of the integral membrane precursor to soluble transforming growth factor-␣ (TGF-␣), pro-TGF-␣. Here we examined TGF-␣ processing in a physiologically relevant cell model, primary keratinocytes, showing that cells lacking TACE activity shed dramatically less TGF-␣ as compared with wild-type cultures and that TGF-␣ cleavage was partially restored by infection of TACE-deficient cells with TACE-encoding adenovirus. Moreover, cotransfection of TACE-deficient fibroblasts with pro-TGF-␣ and TACE cDNAs increased shedding of mature TGF-␣ with concomitant conversion of cell-associated pro-TGF-␣ to a processed form. Purified TACE accurately cleaved pro-TGF-␣ in vitro at the N-terminal site and also cleaved a soluble form of pro-TGF-␣ containing only the ectodomain at the C-terminal site. In vitro, TACE accurately cleaved peptides corresponding to cleavage sites of several epidermal growth factor (EGF) family members, and transfection of TACE into TACEdeficient cells increased the shedding of amphiregulin and heparin-binding EGF (HB-EGF) proteins. Consistent with the hypothesis that TACE regulates EGF receptor (EGFR) ligand availability in vivo, mice heterozygous for Tace and homozygous for an impaired EGFR allele (wa-2) were born with open eyes significantly more often than Tace ؉/؉ Egfr wa-2/wa-2 counterparts. Collectively, these data support a broad role for TACE in the regulated shedding of EGFR ligands.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 utilizes cell surface heparan sulfate as receptors to infect target cells. The unique heparan sulfate saccharide sequence offers the binding site for viral envelope proteins and plays critical roles in assisting viral infections. A specific 3-O-sulfated heparan sulfate is known to facilitate the entry of herpes simplex virus 1 into cells. The 3-O-sulfated heparan sulfate is generated by the heparan sulfate D-glucosaminyl-3-O-sulfotransferase isoform 3 (3-OST-3), and it provides binding sites for viral glycoprotein D (gD). Here, we report the purification and structural characterization of an oligosaccharide that binds to gD. The isolated gDbinding site is an octasaccharide, and has a binding affinity to gD around 18 M, as determined by affinity coelectrophoresis. The octasaccharide was prepared and purified from a heparan sulfate oligosaccharide library that was modified by purified 3-OST-3 enzyme. The molecular mass of the isolated octasaccharide was determined using both nanoelectrospray ionization mass spectrometry and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry. The results from the sequence analysis suggest that the structure of the octasaccharide is a heptasulfated octasaccharide. The proposed structure of the octasaccharide is ⌬UA-GlcNSIdoUA2S-GlcNAc-UA2S-GlcNS-IdoUA2S-GlcNH 2 3S6S. Given that the binding of 3-O-sulfated heparan sulfate to gD can mediate viral entry, our results provide structural information about heparan sulfate-assisted viral entry.Heparan sulfates (HS), 1 highly sulfated polysaccharides, are present on the surface of mammalian cells and in the extracellular matrix in large quantities. HS play critical roles in a variety of biological interactions, including assisting viral infection, regulating blood coagulation and embryonic development, suppressing tumor growth, and controlling the eating behavior of mice by interacting with specific regulatory proteins (1-5). HS is initially synthesized as a copolymer of glucuronic acid and N-acetylated glucosamine by D-glucuronyl and N-acetyl-D-glucosaminyl transferase, followed by various modifications (6). These modifications include C 5 -epimerization of glucuronic acid to form iduronic acid residues, 2-O-sulfation of iduronic and glucuronic acid, N-deacetylation and N-sulfation of glucosamine, as well as 6-O-sulfation and 3-O-sulfation of glucosamine. Numerous HS biosynthetic enzymes have been cloned and characterized (for review, see Esko and Lindahl (7)).The specific sulfated saccharide sequences play critical roles in determining the functions of HS. A recent report suggests that the expression levels of various isoforms of each class of HS biosynthetic enzyme contribute to the synthesis of specific saccharide sequences in specific tissues (8). HS N-deacetylase/ N-sulfotransferase, 3-O-sulfotransferase, and 6-O-sulfotransferase are present in multiple isoforms, and each isoform is believed to recognize the saccharide sequence around the modification site to generate a specific sulfated saccharid...

Immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC) is a useful method to selectively isolate and enrich phosphopeptides from a peptide mixture. Mass spectrometry is a very suitable method for exact molecular weight determination of IMAC-isolated phosphopeptides, due to its inherent high sensitivity. Even exact molecular weight determination, however, is not sufficient for identification of the phosphorylation site if more than one potential phosphorylation site is present on a peptide. The previous method of choice for sequencing the affinity-bound peptides was electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS). This method required elution and salt removal prior to MS analysis of the peptides, which can lead to sample loss. Using a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) source coupled to an orthogonal injection quadrupole time-of-flight (QqTOF) mass spectrometer with true MS/MS capabilities, direct sequencing of IMAC-enriched peptides has been performed on IMAC beads applied directly to the MALDI target. The utility of this new method has been demonstrated on a protein with unknown phosphorylation sites, where direct MALDI-MS/MS of the tryptic peptides bound to the IMAC beads resulted in the identification of two novel phosphopeptides. Using this technique, the phosphorylation site determination is unambiguous, even with a peptide containing four potentially phosphorylated residues. Direct analysis of phosphorylated peptides on IMAC beads does not adversely affect the high-mass accuracy of an orthogonal injection QqTOF mass spectrometer, making it a suitable technique for phosphoproteomics.

A highly sensitive method to identify and quantify heparan sulfate (HS) oligosaccharides by using nano-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (nESI-MS) is described. The new approach allows us to detect approximately 50 nM of a chemically synthesized pentasaccharide with a structure of GlcNS6S-GlcA-GlcNS6S-IdoA2S-GlcNS6SOMe (3-OH pentasaccharide). Typically, solutions were infused for a total of 5 min, at an average flow rate of 30 nl/min, and the remaining sample was recovered from the nanovial. The spectra shown were obtained by summing scans for 1--3 min. Hence, our data indicated that as little as 3 x 10(-15) mole of the pentasaccharide was consumed to obtain a reasonable spectrum at the concentration as low as 50 nM. In addition, we found a linear relationship between the relative response of the molecular ion and the concentration of the analyzed 3-OH pentasaccharide, demonstrating that this approach can be used to determine the amount of HS oligosaccharides. To this end, a 3-O-sulfated pentasaccharide was prepared by incubating the 3-OH pentasaccharide with purified HS 3-O-sulfotransferase-1 and 3'-phosphoadenosine-5'-phospho[(35)S]sulfate. The resulting 3-O-sulfated pentasaccharide was purified and analyzed by nESI-MS. Based on the standard curve constructed with the 3-OH pentasaccharide, we calculated the concentration of the 3-O-sulfated pentasaccharide by the relative response. The result indicates that this value is very close to the value measured by [(35)S]sulfate radioactivity. In conclusion, nESI-MS provides both high sensitivity and the capacity to quantify HSs. This approach is likely to become a very important tool for structural analysis and sequencing of HS and heparin oligosaccharides.

A method has been developed for rapid and sensitive identification of epitope-containing peptides, based on direct MALDI-MS/MS analysis of epitope-containing peptides affinity bound to affinity beads. This technique provides sequence information of the epitope that allows unambiguous identification of the epitope either by database searching or de novo sequencing. With MALDI-MS, affinity beads with bound peptides can be placed directly on the MALDI target and analyzed. Coupling a MALDI source to an orthogonal injection quadrupole time-of-flight (QqTOF) mass spectrometer allows direct sequencing of the bound peptides. In contrast to ESI-MS/MS, elution of the affinity-bound peptides followed by additional concentration and purification steps is not required, thus reducing the potential for sample loss. Direct mass spectrometric sequencing of affinity-bound peptides eliminates the need for chemical or enzymatic sequencing. Other advantages of this direct MALDI-MS/MS analysis of epitope-containing peptides bound to the affinity beads include its sensitivity (femtomole levels) and speed. In addition, direct analysis of peptides on affinity beads does not adversely affect the high mass accuracy of a QqTOF, and database searching can be performed on the MS/MS spectra obtained. In proof-of-principle experiments, this method has been demonstrated on beads containing immobilized antibodies against phosphotyrosine, the c-myc epitope tag, as well as immobilized avidin. Furthermore, de novo sequencing of epitope-containing peptides is demonstrated. The first application of this method was with anti-FLAG-tag affinity beads, where direct MALDI MS/MS was used to determine an unexpected enzymatic cleavage site on a growth factor