A quantitative and site-specific atlas of the citrullinome reveals widespread existence of citrullination and insights into PADI4 substrates.

Despite the importance of citrullination in physiology and disease, global identification of citrullinated proteins, and the precise targeted sites, has remained challenging. Here we employed quantitative-mass-spectrometry-based proteomics to generate a comprehensive atlas of citrullination sites within the HL60 leukemia cell line following differentiation into neutrophil-like cells. We identified 14,056 citrullination sites within 4,008 proteins and quantified their regulation upon inhibition of the citrullinating enzyme PADI4. With this resource, we provide quantitative and site-specific information on thousands of PADI4 substrates, including signature histone marks and transcriptional regulators. Additionally, using peptide microarrays, we demonstrate the potential clinical relevance of certain identified sites, through distinct reactivities of antibodies contained in synovial fluid from anti-CCP-positive and anti-CCP-negative people with rheumatoid arthritis. Collectively, we describe the human citrullinome at a systems-wide level, provide a resource for understanding citrullination at the mechanistic level and link the identified targeted sites to rheumatoid arthritis.

Serine ADP-ribosylation in Drosophila provides insights into the evolution of reversible ADP-ribosylation signalling.

In the mammalian DNA damage response, ADP-ribosylation signalling is of crucial importance to mark sites of DNA damage as well as recruit and regulate repairs factors. Specifically, the PARP1:HPF1 complex recognises damaged DNA and catalyses the formation of serine-linked ADP-ribosylation marks (mono-Ser-ADPr), which are extended into ADP-ribose polymers (poly-Ser-ADPr) by PARP1 alone. Poly-Ser-ADPr is reversed by PARG, while the terminal mono-Ser-ADPr is removed by ARH3. Despite its significance and apparent evolutionary conservation, little is known about ADP-ribosylation signalling in non-mammalian Animalia. The presence of HPF1, but absence of ARH3, in some insect genomes, including Drosophila species, raises questions regarding the existence and reversal of serine-ADP-ribosylation in these species. Here we show by quantitative proteomics that Ser-ADPr is the major form of ADP-ribosylation in the DNA damage response of Drosophila melanogaster and is dependent on the dParp1:dHpf1 complex. Moreover, our structural and biochemical investigations uncover the mechanism of mono-Ser-ADPr removal by Drosophila Parg. Collectively, our data reveal PARP:HPF1-mediated Ser-ADPr as a defining feature of the DDR in Animalia. The striking conservation within this kingdom suggests that organisms that carry only a core set of ADP-ribosyl metabolising enzymes, such as Drosophila, are valuable model organisms to study the physiological role of Ser-ADPr signalling.

Characterizing ADP-Ribosylation Sites Using Af1521 Enrichment Coupled to ETD-Based Mass Spectrometry.

ADP-ribosylation is a posttranslational modification (PTM) that has crucial functions in a wide range of cellular processes. Although mass spectrometry (MS) in recent years has emerged as a valuable tool for profiling ADP-ribosylation on a system level, the use of conventional MS methods to profile ADP-ribosylation sites in an unbiased way remains a challenge. Here, we describe a protocol for identification of ADP-ribosylated proteins in vivo on a proteome-wide level, and localization of the amino acid side chains modified with this PTM. The method relies on the enrichment of ADP-ribosylated peptides using the Af1521 macrodomain (Karras GI, Kustatscher G, Buhecha HR, Allen MD, Pugieux C, Sait F, Bycroft M, Ladurner AG, EMBO J 24:1911-1920, 2005), followed by liquid chromatography-high-resolution tandem MS (LC-MS/MS) with electron transfer dissociation-based peptide fragmentation methods, resulting in accurate localization of ADP-ribosylation sites. This protocol explains the step-by-step enrichment and identification of ADP-ribosylated peptides from cell culture to data processing using the MaxQuant software suite.

Temporal and Site-Specific ADP-Ribosylation Dynamics upon Different Genotoxic Stresses.

The DNA damage response revolves around transmission of information via post-translational modifications, including reversible protein ADP-ribosylation. Here, we applied a mass-spectrometry-based Af1521 enrichment technology for the identification and quantification of ADP-ribosylation sites as a function of various DNA damage stimuli and time. In total, we detected 1681 ADP-ribosylation sites residing on 716 proteins in U2OS cells and determined their temporal dynamics after exposure to the genotoxins H2O2 and MMS. Intriguingly, we observed a widespread but low-abundance serine ADP-ribosylation response at the earliest time point, with later time points centered on increased modification of the same sites. This suggests that early serine ADP-ribosylation events may serve as a platform for an integrated signal response. While treatment with H2O2 and MMS induced homogenous ADP-ribosylation responses, we observed temporal differences in the ADP-ribosylation site abundances. Exposure to MMS-induced alkylating stress induced the strongest ADP-ribosylome response after 30 min, prominently modifying proteins involved in RNA processing, whereas in response to H2O2-induced oxidative stress ADP-ribosylation peaked after 60 min, mainly modifying proteins involved in DNA damage pathways. Collectively, the dynamic ADP-ribosylome presented here provides a valuable insight into the temporal cellular regulation of ADP-ribosylation in response to DNA damage.

The regulatory landscape of the human HPF1- and ARH3-dependent ADP-ribosylome.

Despite the involvement of Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP1) in many important biological pathways, the target residues of PARP1-mediated ADP-ribosylation remain ambiguous. To explicate the ADP-ribosylation regulome, we analyze human cells depleted for key regulators of PARP1 activity, histone PARylation factor 1 (HPF1) and ADP-ribosylhydrolase 3 (ARH3). Using quantitative proteomics, we characterize 1,596 ADP-ribosylation sites, displaying up to 1000-fold regulation across the investigated knockout cells. We find that HPF1 and ARH3 inversely and homogenously regulate the serine ADP-ribosylome on a proteome-wide scale with consistent adherence to lysine-serine-motifs, suggesting that targeting is independent of HPF1 and ARH3. Notably, we do not detect an HPF1-dependent target residue switch from serine to glutamate/aspartate under the investigated conditions. Our data support the notion that serine ADP-ribosylation mainly exists as mono-ADP-ribosylation in cells, and reveal a remarkable degree of histone co-modification with serine ADP-ribosylation and other post-translational modifications.

Chemical genetics and proteome-wide site mapping reveal cysteine MARylation by PARP-7 on immune-relevant protein targets.

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 7 (PARP-7) has emerged as a critically important member of a large enzyme family that catalyzes ADP-ribosylation in mammalian cells. PARP-7 is a critical regulator of the innate immune response. What remains unclear is the mechanism by which PARP-7 regulates this process, namely because the protein targets of PARP-7 mono-ADP-ribosylation (MARylation) are largely unknown. Here, we combine chemical genetics, proximity labeling, and proteome-wide amino acid ADP-ribosylation site profiling for identifying the direct targets and sites of PARP-7-mediated MARylation in a cellular context. We found that the inactive PARP family member, PARP-13-a critical regulator of the antiviral innate immune response-is a major target of PARP-7. PARP-13 is preferentially MARylated on cysteine residues in its RNA binding zinc finger domain. Proteome-wide ADP-ribosylation analysis reveals cysteine as a major MARylation acceptor of PARP-7. This study provides insight into PARP-7 targeting and MARylation site preference.

Mapping Physiological ADP-Ribosylation Using Activated Ion Electron Transfer Dissociation.

ADP-ribosylation (ADPr) is a post-translational modification that plays pivotal roles in a wide range of cellular processes. Mass spectrometry (MS)-based analysis of ADPr under physiological conditions, without relying on genetic or chemical perturbation, has been hindered by technical limitations. Here, we describe the applicability of activated ion electron transfer dissociation (AI-ETD) for MS-based proteomics analysis of physiological ADPr using our unbiased Af1521 enrichment strategy. To benchmark AI-ETD, we profile 9,000 ADPr peptides mapping to >5,000 unique ADPr sites from a limited number of cells exposed to oxidative stress and identify 120% and 28% more ADPr peptides compared to contemporary strategies using ETD and electron-transfer higher-energy collisional dissociation (EThcD), respectively. Under physiological conditions, AI-ETD identifies 450 ADPr sites on low-abundant proteins, including in vivo cysteine modifications on poly(ADP-ribosyl)polymerase (PARP) 8 and tyrosine modifications on PARP14, hinting at specialist enzymatic functions for these enzymes. Collectively, our data provide insights into the physiological regulation of ADPr.

An Advanced Strategy for Comprehensive Profiling of ADP-ribosylation Sites Using Mass Spectrometry-based Proteomics.

ADP-ribosylation is a widespread post-translational modification (PTM) with crucial functions in many cellular processes. Here, we describe an in-depth ADP-ribosylome using our Af1521-based proteomics methodology for comprehensive profiling of ADP-ribosylation sites, by systematically assessing complementary proteolytic digestions and precursor fragmentation through application of electron-transfer higher-energy collisional dissociation (EThcD) and electron transfer dissociation (ETD), respectively. Although ETD spectra yielded higher identification scores, EThcD generally proved superior to ETD in identification and localization of ADP-ribosylation sites regardless of protease employed. Notwithstanding, the propensities of complementary proteases and fragmentation methods expanded the detectable repertoire of ADP-ribosylation to an unprecedented depth. This system-wide profiling of the ADP-ribosylome in HeLa cells subjected to DNA damage uncovered >11,000 unique ADP-ribosylated peptides mapping to >7,000 ADP-ribosylation sites, in total modifying over one-third of the human nuclear proteome and highlighting the vast scope of this PTM. High-resolution MS/MS spectra enabled identification of dozens of proteins concomitantly modified by ADP-ribosylation and phosphorylation, revealing a considerable degree of crosstalk on histones. ADP-ribosylation was confidently localized to various amino acid residue types, including less abundantly modified residues, with hundreds of ADP-ribosylation sites pinpointed on histidine, arginine, and tyrosine residues. Functional enrichment analysis suggested modification of these specific residue types is directed in a spatial manner, with tyrosine ADP-ribosylation linked to the ribosome, arginine ADP-ribosylation linked to the endoplasmic reticulum, and histidine ADP-ribosylation linked to the mitochondrion.

Proteome-Wide Identification of In Vivo ADP-Ribose Acceptor Sites by Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry.

ADP-ribosylation is a posttranslational modification (PTM) that affects a variety of cellular processes. In recent years, mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics has become a valuable tool for studying ADP-ribosylation. However, studying this PTM in vivo in an unbiased and sensitive manner has remained a difficult challenge. Here, we describe a detailed protocol for unbiased analysis of ADP-ribosylated proteins and their ADP-ribose acceptor sites under physiological conditions. The method relies on the enrichment of mono-ADP-ribosylated peptides using the macrodomain Af1521 in combination with liquid chromatography-high-resolution tandem MS (LC-MS/MS). The 5-day protocol explains the step-by-step enrichment and identification of ADP-ribosylated peptides from cell culture stage all the way through to data processing using the MaxQuant software suite.

An Optimized Shotgun Strategy for the Rapid Generation of Comprehensive Human Proteomes.

This study investigates the challenge of comprehensively cataloging the complete human proteome from a single-cell type using mass spectrometry (MS)-based shotgun proteomics. We modify a classical two-dimensional high-resolution reversed-phase peptide fractionation scheme and optimize a protocol that provides sufficient peak capacity to saturate the sequencing speed of modern MS instruments. This strategy enables the deepest proteome of a human single-cell type to date, with the HeLa proteome sequenced to a depth of ∼584,000 unique peptide sequences and ∼14,200 protein isoforms (∼12,200 protein-coding genes). This depth is comparable with next-generation RNA sequencing and enables the identification of post-translational modifications, including ∼7,000 N-acetylation sites and ∼10,000 phosphorylation sites, without the need for enrichment. We further demonstrate the general applicability and clinical potential of this proteomics strategy by comprehensively quantifying global proteome expression in several different human cancer cell lines and patient tissue samples.

Proteome-wide analysis of arginine monomethylation reveals widespread occurrence in human cells.

The posttranslational modification of proteins by arginine methylation is functionally important, yet the breadth of this modification is not well characterized. Using high-resolution mass spectrometry, we identified 8030 arginine methylation sites within 3300 human proteins in human embryonic kidney 293 cells, indicating that the occurrence of this modification is comparable to phosphorylation and ubiquitylation. A site-level conservation analysis revealed that arginine methylation sites are less evolutionarily conserved compared to arginines that were not identified as modified by methylation. Through quantitative proteomics and RNA interference to examine arginine methylation stoichiometry, we unexpectedly found that the protein arginine methyltransferase (PRMT) family of arginine methyltransferases catalyzed methylation independently of arginine sequence context. In contrast to the frequency of somatic mutations at arginine methylation sites throughout the proteome, we observed that somatic mutations were common at arginine methylation sites in proteins involved in mRNA splicing. Furthermore, in HeLa and U2OS cells, we found that distinct arginine methyltransferases differentially regulated the functions of the pre-mRNA splicing factor SRSF2 (serine/arginine-rich splicing factor 2) and the RNA transport ribonucleoprotein HNRNPUL1 (heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein U-like 1). Knocking down PRMT5 impaired the RNA binding function of SRSF2, whereas knocking down PRMT4 [also known as coactivator-associated arginine methyltransferase 1 (CARM1)] or PRMT1 increased the RNA binding function of HNRNPUL1. High-content single-cell imaging additionally revealed that knocking down CARM1 promoted the nuclear accumulation of SRSF2, independent of cell cycle phase. Collectively, the presented human arginine methylome provides a missing piece in the global and integrative view of cellular physiology and protein regulation.