Development of a non-denaturing 2D gel electrophoresis protocol for screening in vivo uranium-protein targets in Procambarus clarkii with laser ablation ICP MS followed by protein identification by HPLC-Orbitrap MS.

Limited knowledge about in vivo non-covalent uranium (U)-protein complexes is largely due to the lack of appropriate analytical methodology. Here, a method for screening and identifying the molecular targets of U was developed. The approach was based on non-denaturing 1D and 2D gel electrophoresis (ND-PAGE and ND-2D-PAGE (using ND-IEF as first dimension previously described)) in conjunction with laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP MS) for the detection of U-containing proteins. The proteins were then identified by µbore HPLC-Orbitrap MS/MS. The method was applied to the analysis of cytosol of hepatopancreas (HP) of a model U-bioaccumulating organism (Procambarus clarkii). The imaging of uranium in 2D gels revealed the presence of 11 U-containing protein spots. Six protein candidates (i.e. ferritin, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, triosephosphate isomerase, cytosolic manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD), glutathione S transferase D1 and H3 histone family protein) were then identified by matching with the data base of crustacea Decapoda species (e.g. crayfish). Among them, ferritin was the most important one. This strategy is expected to provide an insight into U toxicology and metabolism.

Amyloid-dependent triosephosphate isomerase nitrotyrosination induces glycation and tau fibrillation.

Alzheimer's disease neuropathology is characterized by neuronal death, amyloid beta-peptide deposits and neurofibrillary tangles composed of paired helical filaments of tau protein. Although crucial for our understanding of the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease, the molecular mechanisms linking amyloid beta-peptide and paired helical filaments remain unknown. Here, we show that amyloid beta-peptide-induced nitro-oxidative damage promotes the nitrotyrosination of the glycolytic enzyme triosephosphate isomerase in human neuroblastoma cells. Consequently, nitro-triosephosphate isomerase was found to be present in brain slides from double transgenic mice overexpressing human amyloid precursor protein and presenilin 1, and in Alzheimer's disease patients. Higher levels of nitro-triosephosphate isomerase (P < 0.05) were detected, by Western blot, in immunoprecipitates from hippocampus (9 individuals) and frontal cortex (13 individuals) of Alzheimer's disease patients, compared with healthy subjects (4 and 9 individuals, respectively). Triosephosphate isomerase nitrotyrosination decreases the glycolytic flow. Moreover, during its isomerase activity, it triggers the production of the highly neurotoxic methylglyoxal (n = 4; P < 0.05). The bioinformatics simulation of the nitration of tyrosines 164 and 208, close to the catalytic centre, fits with a reduced isomerase activity. Human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells overexpressing double mutant triosephosphate isomerase (Tyr164 and 208 by Phe164 and 208) showed high methylglyoxal production. This finding correlates with the widespread glycation immunostaining in Alzheimer's disease cortex and hippocampus from double transgenic mice overexpressing amyloid precursor protein and presenilin 1. Furthermore, nitro-triosephosphate isomerase formed large beta-sheet aggregates in vitro and in vivo, as demonstrated by turbidometric analysis and electron microscopy. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy studies have demonstrated that nitro-triosephosphate isomerase binds tau monomers and induces tau aggregation to form paired helical filaments, the characteristic intracellular hallmark of Alzheimer's disease brains. Our results link oxidative stress, the main etiopathogenic mechanism in sporadic Alzheimer's disease, via the production of peroxynitrite and nitrotyrosination of triosephosphate isomerase, to amyloid beta-peptide-induced toxicity and tau pathology.