Apart From Rhoptries, Identification of Toxoplasma gondii's O-GlcNAcylated Proteins Reinforces the Universality of the O-GlcNAcome

O-linked β-N-acetylglucosaminylation or O-GlcNAcylation is a widespread post-translational modification that belongs to the large and heterogeneous group of glycosylations. The functions managed by O-GlcNAcylation are diverse and include regulation of transcription, replication, protein's fate, trafficking, and signaling. More and more evidences tend to show that deregulations in the homeostasis of O-GlcNAcylation are involved in the etiology of metabolic diseases, cancers and neuropathologies. O-GlcNAc transferase or OGT is the enzyme that transfers the N-acetylglucosamine residue onto target proteins confined within the cytosolic and nuclear compartments. A form of OGT was predicted for Toxoplasma and recently we were the first to show evidence of O-GlcNAcylation in the apicomplexans Toxoplasma gondii and Plasmodium falciparum. Numerous studies have explored the O-GlcNAcome in a wide variety of biological models but very few focus on protists. In the present work, we used enrichment on sWGA-beads and immunopurification to identify putative O-GlcNAcylated proteins in Toxoplasma gondii. Many of the proteins found to be O-GlcNAcylated were originally described in higher eukaryotes and participate in cell shape organization, response to stress, protein synthesis and metabolism. In a more original way, our proteomic analyses, confirmed by sWGA-enrichment and click-chemistry, revealed that rhoptries, proteins necessary for invasion, are glycosylated. Together, these data show that regardless of proteins strictly specific to organisms, O-GlcNAcylated proteins are rather similar among living beings.

Analysis of Protein O-GlcNAcylation by Mass Spectrometry

O-linked β-D-N-acetyl glucosamine (O-GlcNAc) addition (O-GlcNAcylation), a post-translational modification of serine/threonine residues of proteins, is involved in diverse cellular metabolic and signaling pathways. Aberrant O-GlcNAcylation underlies the initiation and progression of multiple chronic diseases including diabetes, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases. Numerous methods have been developed for the analysis of protein O-GlcNAcylation, but instead of discussing the classical biochemical techniques, this unit covers O-GlcNAc characterization by combining several enrichment methods and mass spectrometry detection techniques [including collision-induced dissociation (CID), higher energy collision dissociation (HCD), and electron transfer dissociation (ETD) mass spectrometry]. © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comparative Proteomics Reveals Dysregulated Mitochondrial O-GlcNAcylation in Diabetic Hearts

O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc), a post-translational modification on serine and threonine residues of many proteins, plays crucial regulatory roles in diverse biological events. As a nutrient sensor, O-GlcNAc modification (O-GlcNAcylation) on nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins underlies the pathology of diabetic complications including cardiomyopathy. However, mitochondrial O-GlcNAcylation, especially in response to chronic hyperglycemia in diabetes, has been poorly explored. We performed a comparative O-GlcNAc profiling of mitochondria from control and streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rat hearts by using an improved β-elimination/Michael addition with isotopic DTT reagents (BEMAD) followed by tandem mass spectrometric analysis. In total, 86 mitochondrial proteins, involved in diverse pathways, were O-GlcNAcylated. Among them, many proteins have site-specific alterations in O-GlcNAcylation in response to diabetes, which suggests that protein O-GlcNAcylation is a novel layer of regulation mediating adaptive changes in mitochondrial metabolism during the progression of diabetic cardiomyopathy.

Mass Spectrometry-Based Quantitative O-GlcNAcomic Analysis

The dynamic co- and post-translational modification (PTM) of proteins, O-linked β-D-N-acetylglucosamine modification (O-GlcNAcylation) of serine/threonine residues is critical in many cellular processes, contributing to multiple physiological and pathological events. The term "O-GlcNAcome" refers to not only the complete set of proteins that undergo O-GlcNAcylation but also the O-GlcNAc status at individual residues, as well as the dynamics of O-GlcNAcylation in response to various stimuli. O-GlcNAcomic analyses have been a challenge for many years. In this chapter, we describe a recently developed approach for the identification and quantification of O-GlcNAc proteins/peptides from complex samples.