Deposition of insoluble protein aggregates is a hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases. The universal presence of β-amyloid and tau in Alzheimer's disease (AD) has facilitated advancement of the amyloid cascade and tau hypotheses that have dominated AD pathogenesis research and therapeutic development. However, the underlying etiology of the disease remains to be fully elucidated. Here we report a comprehensive study of the human brain-insoluble proteome in AD by mass spectrometry. We identify 4,216 proteins, among which 36 proteins accumulate in the disease, including U1-70K and other U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (U1 snRNP) spliceosome components. Similar accumulations in mild cognitive impairment cases indicate that spliceosome changes occur in early stages of AD. Multiple U1 snRNP subunits form cytoplasmic tangle-like structures in AD but not in other examined neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Comparison of RNA from AD and control brains reveals dysregulated RNA processing with accumulation of unspliced RNA species in AD, including myc boxdependent-interacting protein 1, clusterin, and presenilin-1. U1-70K knockdown or antisense oligonucleotide inhibition of U1 snRNP increases the protein level of amyloid precursor protein.Thus, our results demonstrate unique U1 snRNP pathology and implicate abnormal RNA splicing in AD pathogenesis.proteomics | liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry | U1A | RNA-seq | premature cleavage and polyadenylation
Advanced, metastatic melanomas frequently grow in subcutaneous tissues and portend a poor prognosis. Though subcutaneous tissues are largely composed of adipocytes, the mechanisms by which adipocytes influence melanoma are poorly understood. Using and models, we find that adipocytes increase proliferation and invasion of adjacent melanoma cells. Additionally, adipocytes directly transfer lipids to melanoma cells, which alters tumor cell metabolism. Adipocyte-derived lipids are transferred to melanoma cells through the FATP/SLC27A family of lipid transporters expressed on the tumor cell surface. Among the six FATP/SLC27A family members, melanomas significantly overexpress FATP1/SLC27A1. Melanocyte-specific FATP1 expression cooperates with BRAF in transgenic zebrafish to accelerate melanoma development, an effect that is similarly seen in mouse xenograft studies. Pharmacologic blockade of FATPs with the small-molecule inhibitor Lipofermata abrogates lipid transport into melanoma cells and reduces melanoma growth and invasion. These data demonstrate that stromal adipocytes can drive melanoma progression through FATP lipid transporters and represent a new target aimed at interrupting adipocyte-melanoma cross-talk. We demonstrate that stromal adipocytes are donors of lipids that mediate melanoma progression. Adipocyte-derived lipids are taken up by FATP proteins that are aberrantly expressed in melanoma. Inhibition of FATPs decreases melanoma lipid uptake, invasion, and growth. We provide a mechanism for how stromal adipocytes drive tumor progression and demonstrate a novel microenvironmental therapeutic target. .
A hallmark of metastasis is the adaptation of tumor cells to new environments. Metabolic constraints imposed by the serine and glycine-limited brain environment restrict metastatic tumor growth. How brain metastases overcome these growth-prohibitive conditions is poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that 3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (PHGDH), which catalyzes the rate-limiting step of glucose-derived serine synthesis, is a major determinant of brain metastasis in multiple human cancer types and preclinical models. Enhanced serine synthesis proved important for nucleotide production and cell proliferation in highly aggressive brain metastatic cells. In vivo , genetic suppression and pharmacologic inhibition of PHGDH attenuated brain metastasis, but not extracranial tumor growth, and improved overall survival in mice. These results reveal that extracellular amino acid availability determines serine synthesis pathway dependence, and suggest that PHGDH inhibitors may be useful in the treatment of brain metastasis. SIGNIFICANCE:Using proteomics, metabolomics, and multiple brain metastasis models, we demonstrate that the nutrient-limited environment of the brain potentiates brain metastasis susceptibility to serine synthesis inhibition. These fi ndings underscore the importance of studying cancer metabolism in physiologically relevant contexts, and provide a rationale for using PHGDH inhibitors to treat brain metastasis.
SUMMARY Protein ubiquitination is an essential posttranslational modification regulating neurodevelopment, synaptic plasticity, learning and memory, and its dysregulation contributes to the pathogenesis of neurological diseases. Here we report a systematic analysis of ubiquitinated proteome (ubiquitome) in rat brain using a newly developed monoclonal antibody that recognizes the diglycine tag on lysine residues in trypsinized peptides (K-GG peptides). Initial antibody specificity analysis showed that the antibody can distinguish K-GG peptides from linear GG peptides or pseudo K-GG peptides derived from iodoacetamide. To evaluate the false discovery rate of K-GG peptide matches during database search, we introduced a null experiment using bacterial lysate that contains no such peptides. The brain ubiquitome was then analyzed by this antibody enrichment with or without strong cation exchange (SCX) prefractionation. During SCX chromatography, although the vast majority of K-GG peptides were detected in the fractions containing at least three positive charged peptides, specific K-GG peptides with two positive charges (e.g. protein N-terminal acetylated and C-terminal non-K/R peptides) were also identified in early fractions. The reliability of C-terminal K-GG peptides was also extensively investigated. Finally, we collected a dataset of 1786 K-GG sites on 2064 peptides in 921 proteins and estimated their abundance by spectral counting. The study reveals a wide range of ubiquitination events on key components in presynaptic region (e.g. Bassoon, NSF, SNAP25, synapsin, synaptotagmin, and syntaxin) and postsynaptic density (e.g. PSD-95, GKAP, CaMKII, as well as receptors for NMDA, AMPA, GABA, serotonin, and acetylcholine). We also determined ubiquitination sites on amyloid precursor protein and alpha synuclein that are thought to be causative agents in Alzhermer’s and Parkinson’s disorders, respectively. As K-GG peptides can also be produced from Nedd8 or ISG15 modified proteins, we quantified these proteins in the brain and found that their levels are less than 2% of ubiquitin. Together, this study demonstrates that a large number of neuronal proteins are modified by ubiquitination, and provides a feasible method for profiling the ubiquitome in the brain.
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