The emerging landscape of single-molecule protein sequencing technologies

Label-free single-cell analysis in microdroplets using a light-scattering-based optofluidic chip

Droplet-based single-cell analysis is a very powerful tool for studying phenotypic and genomic heterogeneity at single-cell resolution for a variety of biological problems. In conventional two-phase droplet microfluidics, due to the mismatch in optical properties between oil and aqueous phases, light scattering mainly happens at the oil/water interface that disables light-scattering-based cell analysis confined in microdroplets. Detection and analysis of cells in microdroplets thus mostly rely on the fluorescence labeling of cell samples, which may suffer from complex operation, cytotoxicity, and low fluorescence stability. In this work, we propose a novel light-scattering-based droplet screening (LSDS) that can effectively detect and characterize single cells confined in droplets by adjusting the optical properties of droplets in a multiangle optofluidic chip. Theoretical and simulated calculations suggest that refractive index (RI) matching in droplet two-phase materials can reduce or eliminate droplets' scattered signals (background signal), enabling the differentiation of scattered signals from single cells and particles within droplets. Furthermore, by using a set of multiangle (from -145° to 140°) optical fibers integrated into the optofluidic chip, the scattered light properties of droplets with the RI ranging from 1.334 to 1.429 are measured. We find that the smaller the RI and size of microparticles inside droplets are, the smaller the RI difference between two-phase materials Δn is required. Especially, when Δn is smaller than 0.02, single cells in droplets can be detected and analyzed solely based on light scattering. This capability allows to accurately detect droplets containing one single cell and one single gel bead, a typical droplet encapsulation for single-cell sequencing. Altogether, this work provides a powerful platform for high-throughput label-free single-cell analysis in microdroplets for diverse single-cell related biological assays.

Single-Cell Patch-Clamp/Proteomics of Human Alzheimer's Disease iPSC-Derived Excitatory Neurons Versus Isogenic Wild-Type Controls Suggests Novel Causation and Therapeutic Targets

Standard single-cell (sc) proteomics of disease states inferred from multicellular organs or organoids cannot currently be related to single-cell physiology. Here, a scPatch-Clamp/Proteomics platform is developed on single neurons generated from hiPSCs bearing an Alzheimer's disease (AD) genetic mutation and compares them to isogenic wild-type controls. This approach provides both current and voltage electrophysiological data plus detailed proteomics information on single-cells. With this new method, the authors are able to observe hyperelectrical activity in the AD hiPSC-neurons, similar to that observed in the human AD brain, and correlate it to ≈1400 proteins detected at the single neuron level. Using linear regression and mediation analyses to explore the relationship between the abundance of individual proteins and the neuron's mutational and electrophysiological status, this approach yields new information on therapeutic targets in excitatory neurons not attainable by traditional methods. This combined patch-proteomics technique creates a new proteogenetic-therapeutic strategy to correlate genotypic alterations to physiology with protein expression in single-cells.

Predicting the functional state of protein kinases using interpretable graph neural networks from sequence and structural data

Protein kinases are central to cellular activities and are actively pursued as drug targets for several conditions including cancer and autoimmune diseases. Despite the availability of a large structural database for kinases, methodologies to elucidate the structure-function relationship of these proteins (without manual intervention) are lacking. Such techniques are essential in structural biology and to accelerate drug discovery efforts. Here, we implement an interpretable graph neural network (GNN) framework for classifying the functionally active and inactive states of a large set of protein kinases by only using their tertiary structure and amino acid sequence. We show that the GNN models can classify kinase structures with high accuracy (>97%). We implement the Gradient-weighted Class Activation Mapping for graphs (Graph Grad-CAM) to automatically identify structurally important residues and residue-residue contacts of the kinases without any a priori input. We show that the motifs identified through the Graph Grad-CAM methodology are functionally critical, consistent with the existing kinase literature. Notably, the highly conserved DFG and HRD motifs of the well-known hydrophobic spine are identified by the interpretable framework in addition to some of the lesser known motifs. Further, using Grad-CAM maps as the vector embedding of the protein structures, we identify the subtle differences in the crystal structures among different sub-classes of kinases in the Protein Data Bank (PDB). Frameworks such as the one implemented here, for high-throughput identification of protein structure-function relationships are essential in designing targeted small molecules therapies as well as in engineering new proteins for novel applications.

Full-length single-molecule protein fingerprinting

Proteins are the primary functional actors of the cell. While proteoform diversity is known to be highly biologically relevant, current protein analysis methods are of limited use for distinguishing proteoforms. Mass spectrometric methods, in particular, often provide only ambiguous information on post-translational modification sites, and sequences of co-existing modifications may not be resolved. Here we demonstrate fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based single-molecule protein fingerprinting to map the location of individual amino acids and post-translational modifications within single full-length protein molecules. Our data show that both intrinsically disordered proteins and folded globular proteins can be fingerprinted with a subnanometer resolution, achieved by probing the amino acids one by one using single-molecule FRET via DNA exchange. This capability was demonstrated through the analysis of alpha-synuclein, an intrinsically disordered protein, by accurately quantifying isoforms in mixtures using a machine learning classifier, and by determining the locations of two O-GlcNAc moieties. Furthermore, we demonstrate fingerprinting of the globular proteins Bcl-2-like protein 1, procalcitonin and S100A9. We anticipate that our ability to perform proteoform identification with the ultimate sensitivity may unlock exciting new venues in proteomics research and biomarker-based diagnosis.

Real-time detection of 20 amino acids and discrimination of pathologically relevant peptides with functionalized nanopore

Precise identification and quantification of amino acids is crucial for many biological applications. Here we report a copper(II)-functionalized Mycobacterium smegmatis porin A (MspA) nanopore with the N91H substitution, which enables direct identification of all 20 proteinogenic amino acids when combined with a machine-learning algorithm. The validation accuracy reaches 99.1%, with 30.9% signal recovery. The feasibility of ultrasensitive quantification of amino acids was also demonstrated at the nanomolar range. Furthermore, the capability of this system for real-time analyses of two representative post-translational modifications (PTMs), one unnatural amino acid and ten synthetic peptides using exopeptidases, including clinically relevant peptides associated with Alzheimer's disease and cancer neoantigens, was demonstrated. Notably, our strategy successfully distinguishes peptides with only one amino acid difference from the hydrolysate and provides the possibility to infer the peptide sequence.

A critical evaluation of ultrasensitive single-cell proteomics strategies

Success of mass spectrometry characterization of the proteome of single cells allows us to gain a greater understanding than afforded by transcriptomics alone but requires clear understanding of the tradeoffs between analytical throughput and precision. Recent advances in mass spectrometry acquisition techniques, including updated instrumentation and sample preparation, have improved the quality of peptide signals obtained from single cell data. However, much of the proteome remains uncharacterized, and higher throughput techniques often come at the expense of reduced sensitivity and coverage, which diminish the ability to measure proteoform heterogeneity, including splice variants and post-translational modifications, in single cell data analysis. Here, we assess the growing body of ultrasensitive single-cell approaches and their tradeoffs as researchers try to balance throughput and precision in their experiments.

Multimodal Analytical Tools to Enhance Mechanistic Understanding of Aortic Valve Calcification

This review focuses on technologies at the core of calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) and drug target research advancement, including transcriptomics, proteomics, and molecular imaging. We examine how bulk RNA sequencing and single-cell RNA sequencing have engendered organismal genomes and transcriptomes, promoting the analysis of tissue gene expression profiles and cell subpopulations, respectively. We bring into focus how the field is also largely influenced by increasingly accessible proteome profiling techniques. In unison, global transcriptional and protein expression analyses allow for increased understanding of cellular behavior and pathogenic pathways under pathologic stimuli including stress, inflammation, low-density lipoprotein accumulation, increased calcium and phosphate levels, and vascular injury. We also look at how direct investigation of protein signatures paves the way for identification of targetable pathways for pharmacologic intervention. Here, we note that imaging techniques, once a clinical diagnostic tool for late-stage CAVD, have since been refined to address a clinical need to identify microcalcifications using positron emission tomography/computed tomography and even detect in vivo cellular events indicative of early stage CAVD and map the expression of identified proteins in animal models. Together, these techniques generate a holistic approach to CAVD investigation, with the potential to identify additional novel regulatory pathways.

Direct and Continuous Monitoring of Multicomponent Antibiotic Gentamicin in Blood at Single-Molecule Resolution

Point-of-care monitoring of small molecules in biofluids is crucial for clinical diagnosis and treatment. However, the inherent low degree of recognition of small molecules and the complex composition of biofluids present significant obstacles for current detection technologies. Although nanopore sensing excels in the analysis of small molecules, the direct detection of small molecules in complex biofluids remains a challenge. In this study, we present a method for sensing the small molecule drug gentamicin in whole blood based on the mechanosensitive channel of small conductance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PaMscS) nanopore. PaMscS can directly detect gentamicin and distinguish its main components with only a monomethyl difference. The 'molecular sieve' structure of PaMscS enables the direct measurement of gentamicin in human whole blood within 10 min. Furthermore, a continuous monitoring device constructed based on PaMscS achieved continuous monitoring of gentamicin in live rats for approximately 2.5 h without blood consumption, while the drug components can be analyzed in situ. This approach enables rapid and convenient drug monitoring with single-molecule level resolution, which can significantly lower the threshold for drug concentration monitoring and promote more efficient drug use. Moreover, this work also lays the foundation for the future development of continuous monitoring technology with single-molecule level resolution in the living body.

Edman Degradation Reveals Unequivocal Analysis of the Disulfide Connectivity in Peptides and Proteins

Disulfide bridges in peptides and proteins play an essential role in maintaining their conformation, structural integrity, and consequently function. Despite ongoing efforts, it is still not possible to detect disulfide bonds and the connectivity of multiply bridged peptides directly through a simple and sufficiently validated protein sequencing or peptide mapping method. Partial or complete reduction and chemical cysteine modification are required as initial steps, followed by the application of a proper detection method. Edman degradation (ED) has been used for primary sequence determination but is largely neglected since the establishment of mass spectrometry (MS)-based protein sequencing. Here, we evaluated and thoroughly characterized the phenyl thiohydantoin (PTH) cysteine derivatives PTH-S-methyl cysteine and PTH-S-carbamidomethyl cysteine as bioanalytical standards for cysteine detection and quantification as well as for the elucidation of the disulfide connectivity in peptides by ED. Validation of the established derivatives was performed according to the guidelines of the International Committee of Harmonization on bioanalytical method validation, and their analytical properties were confirmed as reference standards. A series of model peptides was sequenced to test the usability of the PTH-Cys-derivatives as standards, whereas the native disulfide-bonded peptides CCAP-vil, μ-conotoxin KIIIA, and human insulin were used as case studies to determine their disulfide bond connectivity completely independent of MS analysis.

Full-Length Single Protein Molecules Tracking and Counting in Thin Silicon Channels

Emerging single-molecule protein sensing techniques are ushering in a transformative era in biomedical research. Nevertheless, challenges persist in realizing ultra-fast full-length protein sensing, including loss of molecular integrity due to protein fragmentation, biases introduced by antibodies affinity, identification of proteoforms, and low throughputs. Here, a single-molecule method for parallel protein separation and tracking is introduced, yielding multi-dimensional molecular properties used for their identification. Proteins are tagged by chemo-selective dual amino-acid specific labels and are electrophoretically separated by their mass/charge in custom-designed thin silicon channel with subwavelength height. This approach allows analysis of thousands of individual proteins within a few minutes by tracking their motion during the migration. The power of the method is demonstrated by quantifying a cytokine panel for host-response discrimination between viral and bacterial infections. Moreover, it is shown that two clinically-relevant splice isoforms of Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) can be accurately quantified from human serum samples. Being non-destructive and compatible with full-length intact proteins, this method opens up ways for antibody-free single-protein molecule quantification.

Phospholipid Membranes as Chemically and Functionally Tunable Materials

The sheet-like lipid bilayer is the fundamental structural component of all cell membranes. Its building blocks are phospholipids and cholesterol. Their amphiphilic structure spontaneously leads to the formation of a bilayer in aqueous environment. Lipids are not just structural elements. Individual lipid species, the lipid membrane structure, and lipid dynamics influence and regulate membrane protein function. An exciting field is emerging where the membrane-associated material properties of different bilayer systems are used in designing innovative solutions for widespread applications across various fields, such as the food industry, cosmetics, nano- and biomedicine, drug storage and delivery, biotechnology, nano- and biosensors, and computing. Here, the authors summarize what is known about how lipids determine the properties and functions of biological membranes and how this has been or can be translated into innovative applications. Based on recent progress in the understanding of membrane structure, dynamics, and physical properties, a perspective is provided on how membrane-controlled regulation of protein functions can extend current applications and even offer new applications.

A Universal Approximation for Conductance Blockade in Thin Nanopore Membranes

Nanopore-based sensing platforms have transformed single-molecule detection and analysis. The foundation of nanopore translocation experiments lies in conductance measurements, yet existing models, which are largely phenomenological, are inaccurate in critical experimental conditions such as thin and tightly fitting pores. Of the two components of the conductance blockade, channel and access resistance, the access resistance is poorly modeled. We present a comprehensive investigation of the access resistance and associated conductance blockade in thin nanopore membranes. By combining a first-principles approach, multiscale modeling, and experimental validation, we propose a unified theoretical modeling framework. The analytical model derived as a result surpasses current approaches across a broad parameter range. Beyond advancing our theoretical understanding, our framework's versatility enables analyte size inference and predictive insights into conductance blockade behavior. Our results will facilitate the design and optimization of nanopore devices for diverse applications, including nanopore base calling and data storage.

Plant-based proteins from agro-industrial waste and by-products: Towards a more circular economy

There is a pressing need for affordable, abundant, and sustainable sources of proteins to address the rising nutrient demands of a growing global population. The food and agriculture sectors produce significant quantities of waste and by-products during the growing, harvesting, storing, transporting, and processing of raw materials. These waste and by-products can sometimes be converted into valuable protein-rich ingredients with excellent functional and nutritional attributes, thereby contributing to a more circular economy. This review critically assesses the potential for agro-industrial wastes and by-products to contribute to global protein requirements. Initially, we discuss the origins and molecular characteristics of plant proteins derived from agro-industrial waste and by-products. We then discuss the techno-functional attributes, extraction methods, and modification techniques that are applied to these plant proteins. Finally, challenges linked to the safety, allergenicity, anti-nutritional factors, digestibility, and sensory attributes of plant proteins derived from these sources are highlighted. The utilization of agro-industrial by-products and wastes as an economical, abundant, and sustainable protein source could contribute towards achieving the Sustainable Development Agenda's 2030 goal of a "zero hunger world", as well as mitigating fluctuations in food availability and prices, which have detrimental impacts on global food security and nutrition.

Nanopore DNA sequencing technologies and their applications towards single-molecule proteomics

Sequencing of nucleic acids with nanopores has emerged as a powerful tool offering rapid readout, high accuracy, low cost and portability. This label-free method for sequencing at the single-molecule level is an achievement on its own. However, nanopores also show promise for the technologically even more challenging sequencing of polypeptides, something that could considerably benefit biological discovery, clinical diagnostics and homeland security, as current techniques lack portability and speed. Here we survey the biochemical innovations underpinning commercial and academic nanopore DNA/RNA sequencing techniques, and explore how these advances can fuel developments in future protein sequencing with nanopores.

Computational and Systems Biology Advances to Enable Bioagent Agnostic Signatures

Enumerated threat agent lists have long driven biodefense priorities. The global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic demonstrated the limitations of searching for known threat agents as compared to a more agnostic approach. Recent technological advances are enabling agent-agnostic biodefense, especially through the integration of multi-modal observations of host-pathogen interactions directed by a human immunological model. Although well-developed technical assays exist for many aspects of human-pathogen interaction, the analytic methods and pipelines to combine and holistically interpret the results of such assays are immature and require further investments to exploit new technologies. In this manuscript, we discuss potential immunologically based bioagent-agnostic approaches and the computational tool gaps the community should prioritize filling.

Aptamer-Functionalized Interface Nanopores Enable Amino Acid-Specific Peptide Detection

Single-molecule proteomics based on nanopore technology has made significant advances in recent years. However, to achieve nanopore sensing with single amino acid resolution, several bottlenecks must be tackled: controlling nanopore sizes with nanoscale precision and slowing molecular translocation events. Herein, we address these challenges by integrating amino acid-specific DNA aptamers into interface nanopores with dynamically tunable pore sizes. A phenylalanine aptamer was used as a proof-of-concept: aptamer recognition of phenylalanine moieties led to the retention of specific peptides, slowing translocation speeds. Importantly, while phenylalanine aptamers were isolated against the free amino acid, the aptamers were determined to recognize the combination of the benzyl or phenyl and the carbonyl group in the peptide backbone, enabling binding to specific phenylalanine-containing peptides. We decoupled specific binding between aptamers and phenylalanine-containing peptides from nonspecific interactions (e.g., electrostatics and hydrophobic interactions) using optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopy. Aptamer-modified interface nanopores differentiated peptides containing phenylalanine vs. control peptides with structurally similar amino acids (i.e., tyrosine and tryptophan). When the duration of aptamer-target interactions inside the nanopore were prolonged by lowering the applied voltage, discrete ionic current levels with repetitive motifs were observed. Such reoccurring signatures in the measured signal suggest that the proposed method has the possibility to resolve amino acid-specific aptamer recognition, a step toward single-molecule proteomics.

Molecular Determinants of Current Blockade Produced by Peptide Transport Through a Nanopore

The nanopore sensing method holds the promise of delivering a single molecule technology for identification of biological proteins, direct detection of post-translational modifications, and perhaps de novo determination of a protein's amino acid sequence. The key quantity measured in such nanopore sensing experiments is the magnitude of the ionic current passing through a nanopore blocked by a polypeptide chain. Establishing a relationship between the amino acid sequence of a peptide fragment confined within a nanopore and the blockade current flowing through the nanopore remains a major challenge for realizing the nanopore protein sequencing. Using the results of all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, here we compare nanopore sequencing of DNA with nanopore sequencing of proteins. We then delineate the factors affecting the blockade current modulation by the peptide sequence, showing that the current can be determined by (i) the steric footprint of an amino acid, (ii) its interactions with the pore wall, (iii) the local stretching of a polypeptide chain, and (iv) the local enhancement of the ion concentration at the nanopore constriction. We conclude with a brief discussion of the prospects for purely computational prediction of the blockade currents.

Machine learning for functional protein design

Recent breakthroughs in AI coupled with the rapid accumulation of protein sequence and structure data have radically transformed computational protein design. New methods promise to escape the constraints of natural and laboratory evolution, accelerating the generation of proteins for applications in biotechnology and medicine. To make sense of the exploding diversity of machine learning approaches, we introduce a unifying framework that classifies models on the basis of their use of three core data modalities: sequences, structures and functional labels. We discuss the new capabilities and outstanding challenges for the practical design of enzymes, antibodies, vaccines, nanomachines and more. We then highlight trends shaping the future of this field, from large-scale assays to more robust benchmarks, multimodal foundation models, enhanced sampling strategies and laboratory automation.

Optical sequencing of single synthetic polymers

Microscopic sequences of synthetic polymers play crucial roles in the polymer properties, but are generally unknown and inaccessible to traditional measurements. Here we report real-time optical sequencing of single synthetic copolymer chains under living polymerization conditions. We achieve this by carrying out multi-colour imaging of polymer growth by single catalysts at single-monomer resolution using CREATS (coupled reaction approach toward super-resolution imaging). CREATS makes a reaction effectively fluorogenic, enabling single-molecule localization microscopy of chemical reactions at higher reactant concentrations. Our data demonstrate that the chain propagation kinetics of surface-grafted polymerization contains temporal fluctuations with a defined memory time (which can be attributed to neighbouring monomer interactions) and chain-length dependence (due to surface electrostatic effects). Furthermore, the microscopic sequences of individual copolymers reveal their tendency to form block copolymers, and, more importantly, quantify the size distribution of individual blocks for comparison with theoretically random copolymers. Such sequencing capability paves the way for single-chain-level structure-function correlation studies of synthetic polymers.

A Massive Proteogenomic Screen Identifies Thousands of Novel Peptides From the Human "Dark" Proteome

Although the human gene annotation has been continuously improved over the past 2 decades, numerous studies demonstrated the existence of a "dark proteome", consisting of proteins that were critical for biological processes but not included in widely used gene catalogs. The Genotype-Tissue Expression project generated more than 15,000 RNA-seq datasets from multiple tissues, which modeled 30 million transcripts in the human genome. To provide a resource of high-confidence novel proteins from the dark proteome, we screened 50,000 mass spectrometry runs from over 900 projects to identify proteins translated from the Genotype-Tissue Expression transcript model with proteomic support. We also integrated 3.8 million common genetic variants from the gnomAD database to improve peptide identification. As a result, we identified 170,529 novel peptides with proteomic evidence, of which 6048 passed the strictest standard we defined and were supported by PepQuery. We provided a user-friendly website (https://ncorf.genes.fun/) for researchers to check the evidence of novel peptides from their studies. The findings will improve our understanding of coding genes and facilitate genomic data interpretation in biomedical research.

Circulating cell-free DNA-based methylation pattern in plasma for early diagnosis of esophagus cancer

With the increased awareness of early tumor detection, the importance of detecting and diagnosing esophageal cancer in its early stages has been underscored. Studies have consistently demonstrated the crucial role of methylation levels in circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in identifying and diagnosing early-stage cancer. cfDNA methylation pertains to the methylation state within the genomic scope of cfDNA and is strongly associated with cancer development and progression. Several research teams have delved into the potential application of cfDNA methylation in identifying early-stage esophageal cancer and have achieved promising outcomes. Recent research supports the high sensitivity and specificity of cfDNA methylation in early esophageal cancer diagnosis, providing a more accurate and efficient approach for early detection and improved clinical management. Accordingly, this review aims to present an overview of methylation-based cfDNA research with a focus on the latest developments in the early detection of esophageal cancer. Additionally, this review summarizes advanced analytical technologies for cfDNA methylation that have significantly benefited from recent advancements in separation and detection techniques, such as methylated DNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeDIP-seq). Recent findings suggest that biomarkers based on cfDNA methylation may soon find successful applications in the early detection of esophageal cancer. However, large-scale prospective clinical trials are required to identify the potential of these biomarkers.

Solid-State Nanopores for Biomolecular Analysis and Detection

Advances in nanopore technology and data processing have rendered DNA sequencing highly accessible, unlocking a new realm of biotechnological opportunities. Commercially available nanopores for DNA sequencing are of biological origin and have certain disadvantages such as having specific environmental requirements to retain functionality. Solid-state nanopores have received increased attention as modular systems with controllable characteristics that enable deployment in non-physiological milieu. Thus, we focus our review on summarizing recent innovations in the field of solid-state nanopores to envision the future of this technology for biomolecular analysis and detection. We begin by introducing the physical aspects of nanopore measurements ranging from interfacial interactions at pore and electrode surfaces to mass transport of analytes and data analysis of recorded signals. Then, developments in nanopore fabrication and post-processing techniques with the pros and cons of different methodologies are examined. Subsequently, progress to facilitate DNA sequencing using solid-state nanopores is described to assess how this platform is evolving to tackle the more complex challenge of protein sequencing. Beyond sequencing, we highlight the recent developments in biosensing of nucleic acids, proteins, and sugars and conclude with an outlook on the frontiers of nanopore technologies.

Novel Insights into the Initiation, Evolution, and Progression of Multiple Myeloma by Multi-Omics Investigation

The evolutionary history of multiple myeloma (MM) includes malignant transformation, followed by progression to pre-malignant stages and overt malignancy, ultimately leading to more aggressive and resistant forms. Over the past decade, large effort has been made to identify the potential therapeutic targets in MM. However, MM remains largely incurable. Most patients experience multiple relapses and inevitably become refractory to treatment. Tumor-initiating cell populations are the postulated population, leading to the recurrent relapses in many hematological malignancies. Clonal evolution of tumor cells in MM has been identified along with the disease progression. As a consequence of different responses to the treatment of heterogeneous MM cell clones, the more aggressive populations survive and evolve. In addition, the tumor microenvironment is a complex ecosystem which plays multifaceted roles in supporting tumor cell evolution. Emerging multi-omics research at single-cell resolution permits an integrative and comprehensive profiling of the tumor cells and microenvironment, deepening the understanding of biological features of MM. In this review, we intend to discuss the novel insights into tumor cell initiation, clonal evolution, drug resistance, and tumor microenvironment in MM, as revealed by emerging multi-omics investigations. These data suggest a promising strategy to unravel the pivotal mechanisms of MM progression and enable the improvement in treatment, both holistically and precisely.

Spatial multi-omics: novel tools to study the complexity of cardiovascular diseases

Spatial multi-omic studies have emerged as a promising approach to comprehensively analyze cells in tissues, enabling the joint analysis of multiple data modalities like transcriptome, epigenome, proteome, and metabolome in parallel or even the same tissue section. This review focuses on the recent advancements in spatial multi-omics technologies, including novel data modalities and computational approaches. We discuss the advancements in low-resolution and high-resolution spatial multi-omics methods which can resolve up to 10,000 of individual molecules at subcellular level. By applying and integrating these techniques, researchers have recently gained valuable insights into the molecular circuits and mechanisms which govern cell biology along the cardiovascular disease spectrum. We provide an overview of current data analysis approaches, with a focus on data integration of multi-omic datasets, highlighting strengths and weaknesses of various computational pipelines. These tools play a crucial role in analyzing and interpreting spatial multi-omics datasets, facilitating the discovery of new findings, and enhancing translational cardiovascular research. Despite nontrivial challenges, such as the need for standardization of experimental setups, data analysis, and improved computational tools, the application of spatial multi-omics holds tremendous potential in revolutionizing our understanding of human disease processes and the identification of novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Exciting opportunities lie ahead for the spatial multi-omics field and will likely contribute to the advancement of personalized medicine for cardiovascular diseases.

Deep Learning-Assisted Single-Molecule Detection of Protein Post-translational Modifications with a Biological Nanopore

Protein post-translational modifications (PTMs) play a crucial role in countless biological processes, profoundly modulating protein properties on both spatial and temporal scales. Protein PTMs have also emerged as reliable biomarkers for several diseases. However, only a handful of techniques are available to accurately measure their levels, capture their complexity at a single molecule level, and characterize their multifaceted roles in health and disease. Nanopore sensing provides high sensitivity for the detection of low-abundance proteins, holding the potential to impact single-molecule proteomics and PTM detection, in particular. Here, we demonstrate the ability of a biological nanopore, the pore-forming toxin aerolysin, to detect and distinguish α-synuclein-derived peptides bearing single or multiple PTMs, namely, phosphorylation, nitration, and oxidation occurring at different positions and in various combinations. The characteristic current signatures of the α-synuclein peptide and its PTM variants could be confidently identified by using a deep learning model for signal processing. We further demonstrate that this framework can quantify α-synuclein peptides at picomolar concentrations and detect the C-terminal peptides generated by digestion of full-length α-synuclein. Collectively, our work highlights the advantage of using nanopores as a tool for simultaneous detection of multiple PTMs and facilitates their use in biomarker discovery and diagnostics.

Engineered serum markers for non-invasive monitoring of gene expression in the brain

Measurement of gene expression in the brain requires invasive analysis of brain tissue or non-invasive methods that are limited by low sensitivity. Here we introduce a method for non-invasive, multiplexed, site-specific monitoring of endogenous gene or transgene expression in the brain through engineered reporters called released markers of activity (RMAs). RMAs consist of an easily detectable reporter and a receptor-binding domain that enables transcytosis across the brain endothelium. RMAs are expressed in the brain but exit into the blood, where they can be easily measured. We show that expressing RMAs at a single mouse brain site representing approximately 1% of the brain volume provides up to a 100,000-fold signal increase over the baseline. Expression of RMAs in tens to hundreds of neurons is sufficient for their reliable detection. We demonstrate that chemogenetic activation of cells expressing Fos-responsive RMA increases serum RMA levels >6-fold compared to non-activated controls. RMAs provide a non-invasive method for repeatable, multiplexed monitoring of gene expression in the intact animal brain.

Peptide sequencing based on host-guest interaction-assisted nanopore sensing

Direct protein sequencing technologies with improved sensitivity and throughput are still needed. Here, we propose an alternative method for peptide sequencing based on enzymatic cleavage and host-guest interaction-assisted nanopore sensing. We serendipitously discovered that the identity of any proteinogenic amino acid in a particular position of a phenylalanine-containing peptide could be determined via current blockage during translocation of the peptide through α-hemolysin nanopores in the presence of cucurbit[7]uril. Building upon this, we further present a proof-of-concept demonstration of peptide sequencing by sequentially cleaving off amino acids from C terminus of a peptide with carboxypeptidases, and then determining their identities and sequence with a peptide probe in nanopore. With future optimization, our results point to a different way of nanopore-based protein sequencing.

aaHash: recursive amino acid sequence hashing

Motivation

K-mer hashing is a common operation in many foundational bioinformatics problems. However, generic string hashing algorithms are not optimized for this application. Strings in bioinformatics use specific alphabets, a trait leveraged for nucleic acid sequences in earlier work. We note that amino acid sequences, with complexities and context that cannot be captured by generic hashing algorithms, can also benefit from a domain-specific hashing algorithm. Such a hashing algorithm can accelerate and improve the sensitivity of bioinformatics applications developed for protein sequences.

Results

Here, we present aaHash, a recursive hashing algorithm tailored for amino acid sequences. This algorithm utilizes multiple hash levels to represent biochemical similarities between amino acids. aaHash performs ∼10× faster than generic string hashing algorithms in hashing adjacent k-mers.

Availability and implementation

aaHash is available online at https://github.com/bcgsc/btllib and is free for academic use.

50 shades of oxidative stress: A state-specific cysteine redox pattern hypothesis

Oxidative stress is biochemically complex. Like primary colours, specific reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidant inputs can be mixed to create unique "shades" of oxidative stress. Even a minimal redox module comprised of just 12 (ROS & antioxidant) inputs and 3 outputs (oxidative damage, cysteine-dependent redox-regulation, or both) yields over half a million "shades" of oxidative stress. The present paper proposes the novel hypothesis that: state-specific shades of oxidative stress, such as a discrete disease, are associated with distinct tell-tale cysteine oxidation patterns. The patterns are encoded by many parameters, from the identity of the oxidised proteins, the cysteine oxidation type, and magnitude. The hypothesis is conceptually grounded in distinct ROS and antioxidant inputs coalescing to produce unique cysteine oxidation outputs. And considers the potential biological significance of the holistic cysteine oxidation outputs. The literature supports the existence of state-specific cysteine oxidation patterns. Measuring and manipulating these patterns offer promising avenues for advancing oxidative stress research. The pattern inspired hypothesis provides a framework for understanding the complex biochemical nature of state-specific oxidative stress.

Molecular mechanism overview of metabolite biosynthesis in medicinal plants

Medicinal plants are essential and rich resources for plant-based medicines and new drugs. Increasing attentions are paid to the secondary metabolites of medicinal plants due to their unique biological activity, pharmacological action, and high utilization value. However, the development of medicinal plants is constrained by limited natural resources and an unclear understanding of the mechanisms underlying active medicinal ingredients, thereby rendering the utilization and exploration of secondary metabolites more challenging. Besides, with the advancement of research on biosynthesis and molecular metabolism of natural products from medicinal plants, the methods for studying the biological activity and pharmacological effects of these products are constantly evolving. In recent years, significant progress has been made in the biosynthetic pathways and related regulatory genes of secondary metabolites in medicinal plants, which has greatly advanced both basic research and the development of clinical applications for medicinal plants. In this review, we discuss the past two decades of international research on the development of medicinal plant resources, mainly focusing on the biosynthetic pathway of secondary metabolites, intracellular signal transduction processes, multi-omics applications, and the application of gene editing technology in related research progress. We also discuss future development trends to promote the deep mining and development of natural products from medicinal plants, providing a useful reference.

Beam search decoder for enhancing sequence decoding speed in single-molecule peptide sequencing data

Next-generation single-molecule protein sequencing technologies have the potential to significantly accelerate biomedical research. These technologies offer sensitivity and scalability for proteomic analysis. One auspicious method is fluorosequencing, which involves: cutting naturalized proteins into peptides, attaching fluorophores to specific amino acids, and observing variations in light intensity as one amino acid is removed at a time. The original peptide is classified from the sequence of light-intensity reads, and proteins can subsequently be recognized with this information. The amino acid step removal is achieved by attaching the peptides to a wall on the C-terminal and using a process called Edman Degradation to remove an amino acid from the N-Terminal. Even though a framework (Whatprot) has been proposed for the peptide classification task, processing times remain restrictive due to the massively parallel data acquisicion system. In this paper, we propose a new beam search decoder with a novel state formulation that obtains considerably lower processing times at the expense of only a slight accuracy drop compared to Whatprot. Furthermore, we explore how our novel state formulation may lead to even faster decoders in the future.

Protein Sequencing with Artificial Intelligence: Machine Learning Integrated Phosphorene Nanoslit

Achieving high throughput protein sequencing at single molecule resolution remains a daunting challenge. Herein, relying on a solid-state 2D phosphorene nanoslit device, an extraordinary biosensor to rapidly identify the key signatures of all twenty amino acids using an interpretable machine learning (ML) model is reported. The XGBoost regression algorithm allows the determination of the transmission function of all twenty amino acids with high accuracy. The resultant ML and DFT studies reveal that it is possible to identify individual amino acids through transmission and current signals readouts with high sensitivity and selectivity. Moreover, we thoroughly compared our results to those from graphene nanoslit and found that the phosphorene nanoslit device can be an ideal candidate for protein sequencing up to a 20-fold increase in transmission sensitivity. The present study facilitates high throughput screening of all twenty amino acids and can be further extended to other biomolecules for disease diagnosis and therapeutic decision making.

Recent methodological advances towards single-cell proteomics

Studying the central dogma at the single-cell level has gained increasing attention to reveal hidden cell lineages and functions that cannot be studied using traditional bulk analyses. Nonetheless, most single-cell studies exploiting genomic and transcriptomic levels fail to address information on proteins that are central to many important biological processes. Single-cell proteomics enables understanding of the functional status of individual cells and is particularly crucial when the specimen is composed of heterogeneous entities of cells. With the growing importance of this field, significant methodological advancements have emerged recently. These include miniaturized and automated sample preparation, multi-omics analyses, and combined analyses of multiple techniques such as mass spectrometry and microscopy. Moreover, artificial intelligence and single-molecule detection technologies have advanced throughput and improved sensitivity limitations, respectively, over conventional methods. In this review, we summarize cutting-edge methodologies for single-cell proteomics and relevant emerging technologies that have been reported in the last 5 years, and provide an outlook on this research field.

Considerable slowdown of short DNA fragment translocation across a protein nanopore using pH-induced generation of enthalpic traps inside the permeation pathway

A pressing challenge in the realm of nanopore-based sensing technologies for nucleic acid characterization has been the cheap and efficient control of analyte translocation. To address this, a plethora of methods were tested, including mutagenesis, molecular motors, enzymes, or the optimization of experimental conditions. Herein, we present a paradigm exploiting the manipulation of electrostatic interactions between 22-mer single-stranded DNAs (22_ssDNA) and low pH-induced charges in the alpha-hemolysin (α-HL) nanopore, to efficiently control the passage of captured molecules. We discovered that in electrolytes buffered at pH = 5 and pH = 4.5 where the nanopore's vestibule and lumen become oppositely charged as compared to that at neutral pH, the electrostatic anchoring at these regions of a 22_ssDNA fragment leads to a dramatic increase of the translocation time, orders of magnitude larger compared to that at neutral pH. This pH-dependent tethering effect is reversible, side invariant, and sensitive to the ionic strength and ssDNA contour length. In the long run, our discovery has the potential to provide a simple read-out of the sequence of bases pertaining to short nucleotide sequences, thus extending the efficacy of current nanopore-based sequencers.

Application of Multiple Omics to Understand Postoperative Delirium Pathophysiology in Humans

Delirium, an acute change in cognition, is common, morbid, and costly, particularly among hospitalized older adults. Despite growing knowledge of its epidemiology, far less is known about delirium pathophysiology. Initial work understanding delirium pathogenesis has focused on assaying single or a limited subset of molecules or genetic loci. Recent technological advances at the forefront of biomarker and drug target discovery have facilitated application of multiple "omics" approaches aimed to provide a more complete understanding of complex disease processes such as delirium. At its basic level, "omics" involves comparison of genes (genomics, epigenomics), transcripts (transcriptomics), proteins (proteomics), metabolites (metabolomics), or lipids (lipidomics) in biological fluids or tissues obtained from patients who have a certain condition (i.e., delirium) and those who do not. Multi-omics analyses of these various types of molecules combined with machine learning and systems biology enable the discovery of biomarkers, biological pathways, and predictors of delirium, thus elucidating its pathophysiology. This review provides an overview of the most recent omics techniques, their current impact on identifying delirium biomarkers, and future potential in enhancing our understanding of delirium pathogenesis. We summarize challenges in identification of specific biomarkers of delirium and, more importantly, in discovering the mechanisms underlying delirium pathophysiology. Based on mounting evidence, we highlight a heightened inflammatory response as one common pathway in delirium risk and progression, and we suggest other promising biological mechanisms that have recently emerged. Advanced multiple omics approaches coupled with bioinformatics methodologies have great promise to yield important discoveries that will advance delirium research.

Robust and scalable single-molecule protein sequencing with fluorosequencing

The need to accurately survey proteins and their modifications with ever higher sensitivities, particularly in clinical settings with limited samples, is spurring development of new single molecule proteomics technologies. Fluorosequencing is one such highly parallelized single molecule peptide sequencing platform, based on determining the sequence positions of select amino acid types within peptides to enable their identification and quantification from a reference database. Here, we describe substantial improvements to fluorosequencing, including identifying fluorophores compatible with the sequencing chemistry, mitigating dye-dye interactions through the use of extended polyproline linkers, and developing an end-to-end workflow for sample preparation and sequencing. We demonstrate by fluorosequencing peptides in mixtures and identifying a target neoantigen from a database of decoy MHC peptides, highlighting the potential of the technology for high sensitivity clinical applications.

Engineering Biological Nanopore Approaches toward Protein Sequencing

Biotechnological innovations have vastly improved the capacity to perform large-scale protein studies, while the methods we have for identifying and quantifying individual proteins are still inadequate to perform protein sequencing at the single-molecule level. Nanopore-inspired systems devoted to understanding how single molecules behave have been extensively developed for applications in genome sequencing. These nanopore systems are emerging as prominent tools for protein identification, detection, and analysis, suggesting realistic prospects for novel protein sequencing. This review summarizes recent advances in biological nanopore sensors toward protein sequencing, from the identification of individual amino acids to the controlled translocation of peptides and proteins, with attention focused on device and algorithm development and the delineation of molecular mechanisms with the aid of simulations. Specifically, the review aims to offer recommendations for the advancement of nanopore-based protein sequencing from an engineering perspective, highlighting the need for collaborative efforts across multiple disciplines. These efforts should include chemical conjugation, protein engineering, molecular simulation, machine-learning-assisted identification, and electronic device fabrication to enable practical implementation in real-world scenarios.

Single-molecular protein-based bioelectronics via electronic transport: fundamentals, devices and applications

Biomolecular electronics is a rapidly growing multidisciplinary field that combines biology, nanoscience, and engineering to bridge the two important fields of life sciences and molecular electronics. Proteins are remarkable for their ability to recognize molecules and transport electrons, making the integration of proteins into electronic devices a long sought-after goal and leading to the emergence of the field of protein-based bioelectronics, also known as proteotronics. This field seeks to design and create new biomolecular electronic platforms that allow for the understanding and manipulation of protein-mediated electronic charge transport and related functional applications. In recent decades, there have been numerous reports on protein-based bioelectronics using a variety of nano-gapped electrical devices and techniques at the single molecular level, which are not achievable with conventional ensemble approaches. This review focuses on recent advances in physical electron transport mechanisms, device fabrication methodologies, and various applications in protein-based bioelectronics. We discuss the most recent progress of the single or few protein-bridged electrical junction fabrication strategies, summarise the work on fundamental and functional applications of protein bioelectronics that enable high and dynamic electron transport, and highlight future perspectives and challenges that still need to be addressed. We believe that this specific review will stimulate the interdisciplinary research of topics related to protein-related bioelectronics, and open up new possibilities for single-molecule biophysics and biomedicine.

Unidirectional single-file transport of full-length proteins through a nanopore

The electrical current blockade of a peptide or protein threading through a nanopore can be used as a fingerprint of the molecule in biosensor applications. However, threading of full-length proteins has only been achieved using enzymatic unfolding and translocation. Here we describe an enzyme-free approach for unidirectional, slow transport of full-length proteins through nanopores. We show that the combination of a chemically resistant biological nanopore, α-hemolysin (narrowest part is ~1.4 nm in diameter), and a high concentration guanidinium chloride buffer enables unidirectional, single-file protein transport propelled by an electroosmotic effect. We show that the mean protein translocation velocity depends linearly on the applied voltage and translocation times depend linearly on length, resembling the translocation dynamics of ssDNA. Using a supervised machine-learning classifier, we demonstrate that single-translocation events contain sufficient information to distinguish their threading orientation and identity with accuracies larger than 90%. Capture rates of protein are increased substantially when either a genetically encoded charged peptide tail or a DNA tag is added to a protein.

Estimating error rates for single molecule protein sequencing experiments

The practical application of new single molecule protein sequencing (SMPS) technologies requires accurate estimates of their associated sequencing error rates. Here, we describe the development and application of two distinct parameter estimation methods for analyzing SMPS reads produced by fluorosequencing. A Hidden Markov Model (HMM) based approach, extends whatprot, where we previously used HMMs for SMPS peptide-read matching. This extension offers a principled approach for estimating key parameters for fluorosequencing experiments, including missed amino acid cleavages, dye loss, and peptide detachment. Specifically, we adapted the Baum-Welch algorithm, a standard technique to estimate transition probabilities for an HMM using expectation maximization, but modified here to estimate a small number of parameter values directly rather than estimating every transition probability independently, which should help prevent overfitting. We demonstrate a high degree of accuracy on simulated data, but on experimental datasets, we observed that the model needed to be augmented with an additional error type, N-terminal blocking. This, in combination with data pre-processing, results in reasonable parameterizations of experimental datasets that agree with controlled experimental perturbations. A second independent implementation using a hybrid of DIRECT and Powell's method to reduce the root mean squared error (RMSE) between simulations and the real dataset was also developed. We compare these methods on both simulated and real data, finding that our Baum-Welch based approach outperforms DIRECT and Powell's method by most, but not all, criteria. Although some discrepancies between the results exist, we also find that both approaches provide similar error rate estimates from experimental single molecule fluorosequencing datasets.

Targeted therapy for rare lung cancers: Status, challenges, and prospects

Lung cancer causes the most cancer-related deaths worldwide. In recent years, molecular and immunohistochemical techniques have rapidly developed, further inaugurating an era of personalized medicine for lung cancer. The rare subset of lung cancers accounts for approximately 10%, each displaying distinct clinical characteristics. Treatments for rare lung cancers are mainly based on evidence from common counterparts, which may lead to unsolid clinical benefits considering intertumoral heterogeneity. The increasing knowledge of molecular profiling of rare lung cancers has made targeting genetic alterations and immune checkpoints a powerful strategy. Additionally, cellular therapy has emerged as a promising way to target tumor cells. In this review, we first discuss the current status of targeted therapy and preclinical models for rare lung cancers, as well as provide mutational profiles by integrating the results of existing cohorts. Finally, we point out the challenges and future directions for developing targeted agents for rare lung cancer.

Antigen-specific and cross-reactive T cells in protection and disease

Human T cells have a diverse T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire that endows them with the ability to identify and defend against a broad spectrum of antigens. The universe of possible antigens that T cells may encounter, however, is even larger. To effectively surveil such a vast universe, the T-cell repertoire must adopt a high degree of cross-reactivity. Likewise, antigen-specific and cross-reactive T-cell responses play pivotal roles in both protective and pathological immune responses in numerous diseases. In this review, we explore the implications of these antigen-driven T-cell responses, with a particular focus on CD8+ T cells, using infection, neurodegeneration, and cancer as examples. We also summarize recent technological advances that facilitate high-throughput profiling of antigen-specific and cross-reactive T-cell responses experimentally, as well as computational biology approaches that predict these interactions.

Spatially resolved single-cell translatomics at molecular resolution

The precise control of messenger RNA (mRNA) translation is a crucial step in posttranscriptional gene regulation of cellular physiology. However, it remains a challenge to systematically study mRNA translation at the transcriptomic scale with spatial and single-cell resolution. Here, we report the development of ribosome-bound mRNA mapping (RIBOmap), a highly multiplexed three-dimensional in situ profiling method to detect cellular translatome. RIBOmap profiling of 981 genes in HeLa cells revealed cell cycle-dependent translational control and colocalized translation of functional gene modules. We mapped 5413 genes in mouse brain tissues, yielding spatially resolved single-cell translatomic profiles for 119,173 cells and revealing cell type-specific and brain region-specific translational regulation, including translation remodeling during oligodendrocyte maturation. Our method detected widespread patterns of localized translation in neuronal and glial cells in intact brain tissue networks.