Optimal Dissociation Methods Differ for N- and O-glycopeptides

<p><a>Site-specific characterization of glycosylation requires intact glycopeptide analysis, and recent efforts have focused on how to best interrogate glycopeptides using tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Beam-type collisional activation, i.e., higher-energy collisional dissociation (HCD), has been a valuable approach, but stepped collision energy HCD (sceHCD) and electron transfer dissociation with HCD supplemental activation (EThcD) have emerged as potentially more suitable alternatives. Both sceHCD and EThcD have been used with success in large-scale glycoproteomic experiments, but they each incur some degree of compromise. Most progress has occurred in the area N-glycoproteomics. There is growing interest in extending this progress to O-glycoproteomics, which necessitates comparisons of method performance for the two classes of glycopeptides. Here, we systematically explore the advantages and disadvantages of conventional HCD, sceHCD, ETD, and EThcD for intact glycopeptide analysis and determine their suitability for both N- and O-glycoproteomic applications. For N-glycopeptides, HCD and sceHCD generate similar numbers of identifications, although sceHCD generally provides higher quality spectra. Both significantly outperform EThcD methods, indicating that ETD-based methods are not required for routine N-glycoproteomics. Conversely, ETD-based methods, especially EThcD, are indispensable for site-specific analyses of O-glycopeptides. Our data show that O-glycopeptides cannot be robustly characterized with HCD-centric methods that are sufficient for N-glycopeptides, and glycoproteomic methods aiming to characterize O-glycopeptides must be constructed accordingly.</a></p>

Optimal Dissociation Methods Differ for N- and O-glycopeptides

<p><a>Site-specific characterization of glycosylation requires intact glycopeptide analysis, and recent efforts have focused on how to best interrogate glycopeptides using tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Beam-type collisional activation, i.e., higher-energy collisional dissociation (HCD), has been a valuable approach, but stepped collision energy HCD (sceHCD) and electron transfer dissociation with HCD supplemental activation (EThcD) have emerged as potentially more suitable alternatives. Both sceHCD and EThcD have been used with success in large-scale glycoproteomic experiments, but they each incur some degree of compromise. Most progress has occurred in the area N-glycoproteomics. There is growing interest in extending this progress to O-glycoproteomics, which necessitates comparisons of method performance for the two classes of glycopeptides. Here, we systematically explore the advantages and disadvantages of conventional HCD, sceHCD, ETD, and EThcD for intact glycopeptide analysis and determine their suitability for both N- and O-glycoproteomic applications. For N-glycopeptides, HCD and sceHCD generate similar numbers of identifications, although sceHCD generally provides higher quality spectra. Both significantly outperform EThcD methods, indicating that ETD-based methods are not required for routine N-glycoproteomics. Conversely, ETD-based methods, especially EThcD, are indispensable for site-specific analyses of O-glycopeptides. Our data show that O-glycopeptides cannot be robustly characterized with HCD-centric methods that are sufficient for N-glycopeptides, and glycoproteomic methods aiming to characterize O-glycopeptides must be constructed accordingly.</a></p>

Optimal Dissociation Methods Differ for N- and O-glycopeptides

<p><a>Site-specific characterization of glycosylation requires intact glycopeptide analysis, and recent efforts have focused on how to best interrogate glycopeptides using tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Beam-type collisional activation, i.e., higher-energy collisional dissociation (HCD), has been a valuable approach, but stepped collision energy HCD (sceHCD) and electron transfer dissociation with HCD supplemental activation (EThcD) have emerged as potentially more suitable alternatives. Both sceHCD and EThcD have been used with success in large-scale glycoproteomic experiments, but they each incur some degree of compromise. Most progress has occurred in the area N-glycoproteomics. There is growing interest in extending this progress to O-glycoproteomics, which necessitates comparisons of method performance for the two classes of glycopeptides. Here, we systematically explore the advantages and disadvantages of conventional HCD, sceHCD, ETD, and EThcD for intact glycopeptide analysis and determine their suitability for both N- and O-glycoproteomic applications. For N-glycopeptides, HCD and sceHCD generate similar numbers of identifications, although sceHCD generally provides higher quality spectra. Both significantly outperform EThcD methods, indicating that ETD-based methods are not required for routine N-glycoproteomics. Conversely, ETD-based methods, especially EThcD, are indispensable for site-specific analyses of O-glycopeptides. Our data show that O-glycopeptides cannot be robustly characterized with HCD-centric methods that are sufficient for N-glycopeptides, and glycoproteomic methods aiming to characterize O-glycopeptides must be constructed accordingly.</a></p>

Ultraviolet Photodissociation of tryptic peptide backbones at 213 nm

We analyzed the backbone fragmentation behavior of tryptic peptides of a four protein mixture and of E. coli lysate subjected to Ultraviolet Photodissociation (UVPD) at 213 nm on a commercially available UVPD-equipped tribrid mass spectrometer. We obtained 15,178 high-confidence peptide-spectrum matches by additionally recording a reference beam-type collision-induced dissociation (HCD) spectrum of each precursor. Type a, b and y ions were most prominent in UVPD spectra and median sequence coverage ranged from 5.8% (at 5 ms laser excitation time) to 45.0% (at 100 ms). Overall sequence fragment intensity remained relatively low (median: 0.4% (5 ms) to 16.8% (100 ms) of total intensity) and remaining precursor intensity high. Sequence coverage and sequence fragment intensity ratio correlated with precursor charge density, suggesting that UVPD at 213 nm may suffer from newly formed fragments sticking together due to non-covalent interactions. UVPD fragmentation efficiency therefore might benefit from supplemental activation, as was shown for ETD. Aromatic amino acids, most prominently tryptophan, facilitated UVPD. This points at aromatic tags as possible enhancers of UVPD. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD018176 and on spectrumviewer.org/db/UVPD_213nm_trypPep.

Essential Role of STAT3 in Postnatal Survival and Growth Revealed by Mice Lacking STAT3 Serine 727 Phosphorylation

ABSTRACT A large number of extracellular polypeptides bound to their cognate receptors activate the transcription factor STAT3 by phosphorylation of tyrosine 705. Supplemental activation occurs when serine 727 is also phosphorylated. STAT3 deletion in mice leads to embryonic lethality. We have produced mice with alanine substituted for serine 727 in STAT3 (the SA allele) to examine the function of serine 727 phosphorylation in vivo. Embryonic fibroblasts from SA/SA mice had ∼50% of the transcriptional response of wild-type cells. However, SA/SA mice were viable and grossly normal. STAT3 wild-type/null (+/−) animals were also normal and were interbred with SA/SA mice to study SA/− mice. The SA/− mice progressed through gestation, showing 10 to 15% reduced birth weight, three-fourths died soon after birth, and the SA/− survivors reached only 50 to 60% of normal size at 1 week of age. The lethality and decreased growth were accompanied by altered insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels in serum, establishing a role for the STAT3 serine phosphorylation acting through IGF-1 in embryonic and perinatal growth. The SA/− survivors have decreased thymocyte number associated with increased apoptosis, but unexpectedly normal STAT3-dependent liver acute phase response. These animals offer the opportunity to study defined reductions in the transcriptional capacity of a widely used signaling pathway.