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Molecular & Cellular Proteomics 5:313-323, 2006.
© 2006 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.


From the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Medical Genetics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425
| ABSTRACT |
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Insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1), a 131-kDa protein central to the insulin signaling pathway, has been shown by immunological methods to be O-GlcNAc-modified under conditions that promote insulin resistance in cultured adipocytes (11) and endothelial cells (12) and in skeletal muscle in vivo (13). Phosphorylation at specific Tyr residues of IRS-1 by the insulin receptor mediates binding of IRS-1 to downstream effectors, such as phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, Grb2, and SHP-2 (14). These interactions are further modulated by Ser/Thr kinases. For instance, Ser/Thr phosphorylation at residues 302, 307, 318, 612, 632, 789, or 1101 reduce insulin signaling (for a review, see ). This interplay of posttranslational modifications of IRS-1 is responsible, in part, for the diverse effects elicited by insulin. To further investigate the effect of O-GlcNAc modification on insulin signaling at the level of IRS-1, we have used complementary mass spectrometric methods to identify the sites of O-GlcNAc modification of IRS-1.
Although many proteins possess the O-GlcNAc modification, the effect of this posttranslational modification on protein function has only been determined for a handful of proteins. This is due to the relatively low abundance of O-GlcNAc-modified peptides and to the labile nature of this modification that render the identification of the sites of modification by tandem mass spectrometry challenging. Direct mass spectrometric analyses of purified proteins have taken advantage of the labile nature of this modification by scanning for peptides that readily lose the monosaccharide during fragmentation (1618). Upon CID of an O-GlcNAc-modified peptide in the mass spectrometer, typically the O-linked N-acetylglucosamine moiety is the first to fragment from the peptide leaving an intact Ser (or Thr) residue. This provides a means of using the mass spectrometer to selectively detect O-GlcNAc-modified peptides, which demonstrate a neutral loss of 203.2 Da from the peptide by data-dependent neutral loss MS3 or which fragment to form an N-acetylglucosamine oxonium ion (m/z 204.1) by precursor ion scanning. The fragmentation of peptides by the recently developed electron transfer dissociation method offers the advantage that ions retain the GlcNAc permitting mapping the site of modification (19). The utility of these methods depends on the abundance of the modified peptide within a mixture of peptides because both methods rely on the O-GlcNAc-modified peptide being selected by the instrument for fragmentation by tandem mass spectrometry. Strategies utilized to enrich O-GlcNAc-modified peptides or proteins for mass spectrometric analysis including wheat germ agglutinin lectin affinity chromatography, immunoprecipitation, and the enzymatic incorporation of galactose by galactosyltransferase for ricin affinity chromatography are limited by nonselectivity and inefficiency (2022). Recent developments in enzymatic labeling approaches represent promising advances in the identification of O-GlcNAc-modified proteins from complex protein mixtures (2325). However, these methods may not provide information on the site of modification and require reagents that are not presently commercially available. Alternatively a chemical derivatization strategy involving ß-elimination of the GlcNAc moiety and replacement with a thiol-reactive handle by Michael addition (BEMAD) facilitates enrichment and generates a stable derivative amenable to mapping the sites of modification (21). However, careful controls are necessary to discriminate among Ser/Thr residues that are phosphorylated, O-sulfonated (26), O-GlcNAc-modified, or O-glycosylated by other monosaccharides or polysaccharide chains (27).
The present study examined the use of data-dependent neutral loss MS3 mass spectrometry and chemical derivatization prior to mass spectrometry to identify novel sites of O-GlcNAc modification of IRS-1. These methods were first optimized using mixtures of protein standards spiked with a synthetic O-GlcNAc-modified peptide. Data-dependent neutral loss MS3 provided a simple straightforward approach for the detection of an O-GlcNAc-modified peptide of IRS-1. Chemical derivatization by the BEMAD approach revealed the exact site of modification and offers an alternative methodology for the detection of sites of phosphorylation. These complementary methods permitted identification of novel sites of O-GlcNAc modification and phosphorylation within the C terminus of IRS-1. Site-directed mutagenesis suggests that the site of O-GlcNAc modification identified, Ser-1036, is the major site of this modification in IRS-1.
| EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES |
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Generation of IRS-1 cDNA
The cDNA encoding rat IRS-1 (a gift from Dr. Morris White (28)) was cut out of the pCMV vector with SacI and HindIII and subcloned into pBluescript SK. To aid in cloning IRS-1 into the EcoRV and HindIII sites of the mammalian expression vector pTriEX4 (Novagen), an EcoRV site was incorporated at nucleotide 19 by site-directed mutagenesis (QuikChange XL, Stratagene) with the following primer 5'-CCCTCCGGATATCGATGGCTTCTCAGACG-3'. A single nucleotide was inserted to align the reading frames of the His and S-tags with the coding sequence of IRS-1 using the primer 5'-CCTCAACGATATCGATCGGCTTCTCAGACG-3'. IRS-1, amino acid residues 61235, was expressed as an N-terminally tagged His and S-tag fusion protein in HEK293 cells. Site-directed mutagenesis was performed to substitute Ser-1035, Ser-1036, and Thr-1037 with alanines (IRS-1 AAA) using the primer 5'-GGAGCTGCCCCCCCTCCCGCGGCGGCGGCCTCTGC-3'.
Cell Culture and Expression of IRS-1
HEK293 cells were maintained in improved minimal essential medium (BioSource) containing 10% heat-inactivated fetal calf serum with 1% antibiotic/antimycotic (Invitrogen). Cells were transiently transfected with IRS-1 cDNA using Effectine reagent according to the manufacturers recommendations (Qiagen). Eighteen hours prior to cell lysis, transfected cells were treated with 5 mM glucose ± the O-GlcNAcase inhibitor O-(2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucopyranosylidene)amino-N-phenylcarbamate (PUGNAc; 50 µM) (Toronto Chemicals) (29) or 25 mM glucose (high glucose) ± 100 nM insulin. Cells were lysed in lysis buffer (300 mM NaCl, 50 mM sodium phosphate, 10 mM imidazole, 10 mM ß-mercaptoethanol, and 1% Nonidet P-40) supplemented with 50 µM PUGNAc, 10 mM sodium fluoride, 500 µM sodium vanadate, 1 mM pyrophosphate, and EDTA-free protease inhibitor mixture (Roche Applied Science) 48 h after transfection. The His-tagged protein was enriched by incubation of the lysate with nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid His bind resin (Novagen) for 1 h at room temperature followed by extensive washing with lysis buffer containing 20 mM imidazole. IRS-1 was eluted in lysis buffer containing 250 mM imidazole and purified by SDS-PAGE on 410% XT Criterion gels (Bio-Rad). The IRS-1 protein band was visualized using Ezinc protein stain (Pierce) and cut out of the gel for further manipulation.
Protein Reduction or Oxidation and Proteolysis
IRS-1 to be analyzed by data-dependent neutral loss MS3 was reduced with DTT and alkylated with iodoacetamide. In-gel digestion was performed with trypsin (Promega), Lys-C (Roche Applied Science), Glu-C (Roche Applied Science), or chymotrypsin (Roche Applied Science) for 18 h at 37 °C.
Mixtures of protein standards spiked with the synthetic O-GlcNAc-modified peptide were dried, oxidized with performic acid (PFA) vapor in a vacuum chamber containing 1 ml of PFA for 1 h at room temperature as described by McLachlin and Chait (30), and digested with trypsin (Promega) overnight at 37 °C. Phosphates were removed with 20 units of calf alkaline phosphatase (Promega) in the presence of 1 mM MgCl2 at 37 °C for 4 h. Peptides were desalted by C18 microspin columns (Nest Group) and dried under vacuum. Peptides were oxidized again by incubation in 50 µl of 5% (v/v) 30% hydrogen peroxide, 45% (v/v) 88% formic acid for 1 h at room temperature and dried under vacuum.
Gel pieces containing IRS-1 were destained, washed with 100 mM ammonium bicarbonate, and oxidized for 1 h on ice with a PFA solution containing 5 µl of 30% H2O2 and 95 µl of 95% formic acid that had been incubated for 1 h at room temperature and chilled prior to use. Gel pieces were washed twice for 10 min with 100 mM ammonium bicarbonate, dehydrated with acetonitrile, rehydrated with ammonium bicarbonate, dehydrated with acetonitrile, and dried completely before proteolytic digestion. Extracted peptides were treated with 2 units of shrimp alkaline phosphatase (Promega) by incubation in reaction buffer supplied by the manufacturer at 37 °C for 18 h or with 10 units of ß-N-acetylhexosaminidase (New England Biolabs) in reaction buffer supplied by the manufacturer at 37 °C for 18 h. Mixtures were acidified, desalted by C18 microspin columns, dried under vacuum, and oxidized by PFA vapor (as described above). Peptides were analyzed by MALDI-TOF MS and LC-MS/MS or subjected to ß-elimination chemistry as described below.
Chemical Derivatization of O-GlcNAc-modified Peptides with DTT
Peptides that had been oxidized and digested were subjected to BEMAD for the removal of the N-acetylglucosamine from Ser/Thr residues and replacement with DTT (21). O-GlcNAc Ser and O-GlcNAc Thr undergo ß-elimination to dehydroalanine and dehydroamino-2-butyric acid, respectively, followed by derivatization with DTT. The reaction was initiated with the addition of 50 µl of 0.2% (w/v) NaOH, 20 mM dithiothreitol (Sigma), and 2% (v/v) triethylamine to the dried peptide sample and incubated at 56 °C for 2 h at pH 12.5. Excess DTT was removed by C18 microspin columns, and the peptides were dried under vacuum. The mixture was brought up in degassed PBS with 1 mM EDTA (PBS/EDTA), and the DTT-derivatized peptides were purified by incubation for 2 h with 25 µl of a 50% slurry of thiopropyl-Sepharose (Amersham Biosciences) at room temperature. The sulfhydryl-reactive peptides retained on the column were washed extensively with PBS/EDTA, and the DTT-derivatized peptides were eluted by incubation for 1 h at room temperature with 50 µl of 20 mM DTT in PBS/EDTA. Peptides were desalted, dried, and resuspended for LC-MS/MS in the presence of 10 mM DTT.
Reversed Phase HPLC and Mass Spectrometry
Mixtures of standard protein digests were separated and analyzed with a Series 1100 HPLC system (Hewlett Packard) in-line with an LCQ ion trap mass spectrometer (ThermoFinnigan). Peptides were separated on a 300-µm x 10-cm C18 column (Vydac, Grace) with a gradient of 260% B in 120 min, 6098% B in 40 min, and 98% B for 10 min with 0.1% acetic acid and 0.005% heptafluorobutyric acid in water as solvent A or in 60% acetonitrile as solvent B at a flow rate of 8 µl/min. For recovery experiments each sample was subjected to at least three separate LC-MS/MS analyses using the data-dependent top three experiment or the neutral loss methodology described below.
IRS-1 peptides were separated on a 75-µm x 15-cm C18 column (Vydac, Grace) with a gradient of 560% B in 110 min, 6095% B in 25 min, and 98% B for 15 min (B = 0.02% heptafluorobutyric acid in acetonitrile) at 180 nl/min with an Ultimate 2D HPLC system (LC Packings) and mass-analyzed with an LTQ ion trap mass spectrometer (ThermoFinnigan). For the analysis of DTT-derivatized peptides of IRS-1, the mass spectrometer was operated in data-dependent mode with one survey MS scan followed by five MS/MS scans on the five most intense ions. MS/MS data were collected on precursor ions ±1.5 Da that were above a threshold of 100 using 35% collision energy and 30-ms ion activation. Dynamic exclusion was enabled with a repeat count of two and a repeat duration of 30 s. Peptides were also analyzed by MALDI MS (Voyager DE-STR) using
-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid matrix in 70% acetonitrile and 0.1% TFA. The instrument was calibrated using external calibration.
Data-dependent Neutral Loss
To identify O-GlcNAc-modified peptides using neutral loss technology, the mass spectrometer was programmed to collect MS/MS/MS (MS3) data on precursor ions that exhibited a loss upon MS/MS corresponding to N-acetylglucosamine (203.2, 101.6, 67.7, or 51 ± 0.5 Da from different charge state peptides). The experiment consisted of a survey MS scan followed by three MS/MS scans. When a neutral loss ion was detected in the MS/MS scan and it was among the top five most intense ions, a MS3 scan event was triggered. The mass range selected for the survey scan was 6001800 m/z. The MS/MS parameters used are described above.
Data Analysis
Tandem mass spectra were evaluated by SEQUEST (31) supplied as part of BioWorks 3.1 SR1 (ThermoFinnigan). Searches were performed against the rat IRS-1 protein sequence (Swiss-Prot accession number P35570) with the enzyme specified and allowing for one missed cleavage with the exception of chymotrypsin digests where no enzyme was specified. For DTT-derivatized peptides, the SEQUEST parameters included differential modification of Ser and Thr residues (+136.2 Da) and static modifications accounting for oxidation at Cys (+48 Da), Met (+32 Da), and Trp (+16, 32, or 48 Da). The MS/MS spectra of peaks observed following BEMAD derivatization and thiol chromatography that did not correspond to predicted DTT-derivatized peptides of IRS-1 were searched for incomplete proteolysis, trypsin autolysis, incomplete oxidation of Cys-containing peptides, and products of acid hydrolysis. For data-dependent neutral loss experiments the parameters included carboxyamidomethylated Cys (+57 Da) specified as a static modification, differential phosphorylation of Ser/Thr (+80 Da), and differential O-GlcNAc modification of Ser/Thr (+203.2 Da). SEQUEST results were filtered by Xcorr scores of 1.0, 2.0, and 2.5 for 1+, 2+, and 3+ charge state peptides, respectively. Tandem mass spectra of O-GlcNAc-modified, phosphorylated, or DTT-derivatized peptides identified by SEQUEST were examined manually, and the assignments of the sites of modification were based on comparisons between the tandem mass spectra and predicted fragments generated by Sherpa 4.0 (32) or the MS-Product component of ProteinProspector (prospector.ucsf.edu).
Estimation of O-GlcNAc Modification Stoichiometry
Changes in the level of O-GlcNAc modification of the tryptic peptide 10271073 under various treatment conditions were assessed by calculating the area under the peak of the extracted ion chromatograms corresponding to the 2+ and 3+ charge states of the unmodified peptide and the O-GlcNAc-modified peptide (33). The peak areas were manually selected from unsmoothed extracted ion chromatograms using the XCalibur Qual Browser software (ThermoFinnigan). The values reported represent the ion intensity of the O-GlcNAc-modified peptide as a percentage of the total ion intensity for the modified and unmodified peptide. The average percent modification ± S.E. was determined from multiple analyses where n equals the number of LC-MS/MS analyses. Because the effect of O-GlcNAc modification on the ionization efficiency of this peptide is not known this semiquantitative analysis may not reflect absolute quantification but is useful for comparison purposes.
Immunoblotting
Wild type and mutant IRS-1 proteins, enriched by nickel affinity chromatography, were boiled under reducing conditions in XT MOPS sample buffer (Bio-Rad) and resolved by SDS-PAGE. Proteins were transferred to nitrocellulose and immunoblotted with a monoclonal anti-O-GlcNAc 110.6 antibody (34) according to the manufacturers protocol (Pierce). Blots were stripped and reprobed with the S-protein conjugated to HRP (Novagen).
| RESULTS |
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100-kDa protein, the O-GlcNAc-modified peptide was detected by the neutral loss method. Neutral loss of 101.6 Da from the doubly charged ion at m/z 657.5555.9 triggered the acquisition of a MS3 spectrum providing further sequence confirmation and facilitating detection of the O-GlcNAc-modified peptide. However, in the presence of 10-fold molar excess of protein standards to the peptide, the O-GlcNAc peptide co-eluted with more abundant peptides, was not selected for MS/MS, and therefore was not detected by the neutral loss methodology. These studies confirmed that, although the neutral loss technology was amenable to detection and identification of O-GlcNAc-modified peptides, it did not provide information of the site of modification and had a limited dynamic range of detection.
Recovery and Analysis of an O-GlcNAc-modified Peptide following Chemical Derivatization
To address the limited dynamic range of detection of an O-GlcNAc-modified peptide in a mixture and the inability to discern the exact site of modification, a chemical derivatization strategy in which the O-GlcNAc moiety was replaced with DTT (BEMAD) was tested (21). The protein mixtures, spiked with the synthetic peptide, were oxidized with PFA vapor and digested with trypsin. Because the alkaline conditions of ß-elimination resulted in partial derivatization of phosphopeptide standards, peptides were treated with alkaline phosphatase to increase the specificity of the reaction for O-GlcNAcylated peptides. Based on the previous observations and suggestions of McLachlin and Chait (30) with respect to the presence of contaminant peaks following ß-elimination/derivatization and thiol chromatography, a second step of performic acid oxidation following enzymatic digestion was performed. This resulted in less background contamination with thiol-reactive products of trypsin autolysis. Upon ß-elimination and derivatization, the mass of the O-GlcNAc-modified peptide shifted from 1313.7 to 1247.4 Da due to the loss of N-acetylglucosamine (203.2 Da) and the addition of DTT (136.2 Da) as described previously (21). LC-MS/MS analysis of the eluate from the thiol column revealed chromatographically resolved peaks detected at m/z 623.6 that had identical fragmentation patterns, consistent with the expected presence of isomeric forms of the derivatized peptide. A series of y ions, including the underivatized y6 ion and the DTT-derivatized y7y11 ions, permitted mapping the site of derivatization. Using this approach, the derivatized peptide was recovered and sequenced from a mixture of protein standards at a molar ratio of 1:50 peptide to each protein in the mixture, analogous to an abundance of 2% O-GlcNAc modification at one site of a 100-kDa protein. This was the highest ratio tested. Enrichment and sequence analysis by tandem mass spectrometry enabled confirmation of the site of derivatization, PSVPVS(DTT)GSAPGR.
O-GlcNAc Modification of IRS-1 Identified by Neutral Loss MS3 Mass Spectrometry
Analysis of peptide digests resulting from proteolysis of IRS-1 with trypsin, Lys-C, chymotrypsin, or Glu-C by neutral loss MS3 mass spectrometry revealed a C-terminal peptide as a major site of O-GlcNAc modification. During the analysis of tryptic peptides, a MS3 scan event was triggered when dissociation of a triply charged ion at m/z 1510.3 generated a fragment ion at m/z 1442.6. The signal at m/z 1510.3 corresponds to IRS-1 residues 10271073 modified with O-GlcNAc, and the fragment ion at m/z 1442.6 corresponds to this peptide following dissociation of the monosaccharide. The elution profiles, mass spectrum, and MS/MS spectra confirming the identity of this peptide as residues 10271073 with and without O-GlcNAc modification are shown in Fig. 1. The observed molecular masses of the unmodified and O-GlcNAc-modified peptides are 4324.8 and 4527.6 Da, respectively (calculated molecular masses, 4323.7 and 4526.9 Da, respectively). The increase in mass of the O-GlcNAc-modified peptide, 202.8 Da, corresponds to the calculated average mass (203.2 Da) of N-acetylhexosamine. Analysis of Lys-C-digested IRS-1 by neutral loss MS3 scanning aided in the detection of the O-GlcNAc-modified residues 10221085 (calculated molecular mass, 6370.0 Da; observed molecular mass, 6371.2 Da). The neutral loss of 51 Da from the quadruply charged O-GlcNAc-modified peptide at m/z 1593.8 to the deglycosylated peptide at m/z 1542.8 triggered the acquisition of a MS3 spectrum (data not shown). Unlike trypsin and Lys-C digestion, proteolytic cleavage of IRS-1 with Glu-C resulted in an O-GlcNAc-modified peptide spanning residues 10211051 that partially retained N-acetylglucosamine upon CID. This permitted the correct assignment of the O-GlcNAc-modified peptide by SEQUEST; however, due to the complexity of the spectrum a low XCorr value of 1.8 was obtained and typically would not be observed when the results were filtered by the XCorr score. Fragmentation of the doubly charged O-GlcNAc-modified peptide 10211051 at m/z 1034.4 generated the neutral loss ion (m/z 966.1) as the second most abundant ion in the MS/MS spectrum triggering the acquisition of MS3. The fragmentation pattern was consistent with the presence of O-GlcNAc modification within residues 10321042 (PPPSSTASASA) (Supplemental Fig. 1). Analysis of chymotrypsin-digested IRS-1 peptide 10291055 by neutral loss MS3 methodology further confirmed O-GlcNAc modification within this C-terminal region of IRS-1. Under each digestion condition, the neutral loss methodology consistently detected IRS-1 peptides containing residues 10321042. See Table I for the calculated and observed masses of the O-GlcNAc-modified peptides detected under each digestion condition.
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Sites of Phosphorylation within Residues 10211085
Because O-GlcNAcylation has been proposed to serve as a reciprocal means of protein regulation to phosphorylation at identical or adjacent residues, the phosphorylation state of residues 10211085 was assessed. The neutral loss methodology aided in the detection of the phosphorylated and O-GlcNAcylated peptide 10221085 generated by Lys-C digestion. Fragmentation of the precursor ion at m/z 1615.0 to the deglycosylated fragment ion at m/z 1562.0 triggered the acquisition of a MS3 scan. Although Ser/Thr phosphopeptides may undergo neutral loss of phosphoric acid (98 Da) during CID, the loss of the monosaccharide generated the predominant fragment ion in the spectrum. Based on the MS/MS spectrum of precursor ion at m/z 1615.0 (4+), the site of phosphorylation was narrowed down to residues Ser-1072, Ser-1077, or Ser-1083 (data not shown). MS/MS of the phosphorylated (nonglycosylated) form of peptide 10221085 at m/z 1562.7 (4+) confirmed phosphorylation at Ser-1077 (calculated molecular mass, 6246.7 Da; observed molecular mass, 6244.8 Da), a recently reported site of phosphorylation (35). LC-MS/MS analysis of chymotrypsin-digested IRS-1 residues 10391055 revealed a novel site of phosphorylation at Thr-1045 (Fig. 2). The calculated and observed molecular masses of phosphorylated 10391055 are 1662.6 and 1664.2 Da, respectively. The major fragment ion in the CID spectrum, at m/z 783.4, corresponds to the loss of phosphoric acid from the precursor ion consistent with the assignment of this modification as phosphorylation rather than sulfonation (26). The signal intensities of these phosphopeptides were not sufficient for semiquantitative analysis of the relative level of phosphorylation under the various treatment conditions, e.g. treatment with PUGNAc or high glucose plus insulin.
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Mapping the Site of O-GlcNAc Modification by Chemical Derivatization of IRS-1
To expand the dynamic range of detection of O-GlcNAc-modified peptides and to map the exact site of modification within residues 10321042, IRS-1 peptides were subjected to ß-elimination and derivatization with DTT. Gel-purified IRS-1 isolated from PUGNAc-treated cells was oxidized by performic acid, proteolytically digested, and treated with alkaline phosphatase or hexosaminidase. DTT-derivatized peptides purified by thiol chromatography were analyzed by MALDI MS and LC-MS/MS. The MALDI mass spectra of phosphatase-treated oxidized, tryptic peptides of IRS-1 before and after derivatization and thiol chromatography are shown in Fig. 3. Before derivatization, the oxidized forms of the tryptic peptide 10271073 (calculated molecular mass, 4355.7 Da; observed molecular mass, 4353.4 Da) and O-GlcNAcylated 10271073 (calculated molecular mass, 4558.9; observed molecular mass, 4555.6 Da) were observed. After derivatization, the signal at m/z 4556.6 was absent, and a new signal at m/z 4493.0 was detected that corresponds to DTT-derivatized 10271073 (calculated molecular mass, 4492.9 Da). The 136.2-Da shift corresponds to the expected shift in mass (136.2 Da) due to derivatization of serine or threonine with DTT. This DTT-derivatized peptide was enriched by the thiol chromatography (Fig. 3). LC-MS/MS of the DTT-derivatized peptide 10271073 at m/z 1498.0 (3+) confirmed the assignment of the peptide and revealed the site of modification at Ser-1036 (Fig. 4). A series of doubly charged y ions and the presence of the doubly charged y38 ion at m/z 1856.2 are consistent with the presence of DTT at residue 1036. This assignment was further confirmed by MS/MS of the DTT-modified peptides 10231055 (calculated molecular mass, 3211.5 Da; observed molecular mass, 3210.0 Da) and 10291055 (calculated molecular mass, 2555.8 Da; observed molecular mass, 2554.2 Da) generated after chymotrypsin digestion. Modification at residue 1036 of the peptide 10291055 (GAAPPPSSTASASASVTPQGAAEQAAH) was confirmed by tandem mass spectrometry based on the presence of the b7 ion without DTT at m/z 578.3, the b8 ion with DTT at m/z 801.4, the y19 ion without DTT at m/z 1754.6, and the y20 ion with DTT at m/z 1977.8 (data not shown).
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| DISCUSSION |
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Mass spectrometric and immunoblot analyses of wild type and mutant IRS-1 provided evidence for a novel site of O-GlcNAc modification at Ser-1036. Under each proteolytic digestion condition, the peptides containing residue 1036 were shifted in molecular mass by 203.2 Da and underwent a neutral loss of 203.2 Da, consistent with the presence of N-acetylglucosamine. Upon incubation of IRS-1 with ß-N-acetylhexosaminidase the level of O-GlcNAc modification of residues 10271073 was reduced from 13.7 to 3%. Because neither the mass shift and neutral loss of 203.2 Da nor the enzymatic removal with N-acetylhexosaminidase discriminates between a GlcNAc or N-acetylgalactosamine, the anti-O-GlcNAc antibody, which specifically recognizes ß-O-glycosidic linkage of N-acetylglucosamine to serine and threonine (34), confirmed the identity of the monosaccharide. The loss of immunoreactivity of the anti-O-GlcNAc antibody toward mutated IRS-1 confirmed the presence of the O-GlcNAc modification within residues 1035, 1036, and 1037. ß-Elimination and derivatization with DTT prior to mass spectrometric analysis revealed the site of modification as Ser-1036. This assignment was based on tandem mass spectra of the DTT-derivatized peptides acquired after proteolysis with trypsin or chymotrypsin and treatment with alkaline phosphatase.
Based on the consistent detection of peptides spanning residue Ser-1036 as the only peptides that demonstrated a neutral loss corresponding to N-acetylglucosamine and the immunoblotting results of the IRS-1 mutant, Ser-1036 appears to be the major site of O-GlcNAc modification. This serine residue is conserved in mouse, rat, and human IRS-1. As with other proteins, O-GlcNAcylation may offer an alternative means of protein regulation to phosphorylation. Although Ser-1036 is a predicted site of phosphorylation by Cdc2 kinase (NetPhosK1.0) and Ser-1035 is a predicted site for phosphorylation by glycogen synthase 3 kinase (Motif Scan), phosphorylation at these sites was not detected under the treatment conditions used. However, phosphorylation of the O-GlcNAc-modified peptide was observed at other sites. A novel site of phosphorylation was observed at residue Thr-1045, and a previously reported site of phosphorylation was confirmed at Ser-1077. The functional significance of phosphorylation at these sites is not known. Interestingly the BEMAD approach also revealed sites of IRS-1 phosphorylation that are known to attenuate insulin signaling. Further application of the BEMAD chemistry utilizing isotope-coded DTT has been demonstrated for quantitative analysis of O-GlcNAc modification and phosphorylation (36). This would permit a quantitative assessment of site-specific changes in the extent of O-GlcNAc modification and phosphorylation of IRS-1.
The level of O-GlcNAc modification of the tryptic peptide 10271073 increased under conditions that model the diabetic state. The highest level of modification was observed following treatment of the cells with the O-GlcNAcase inhibitor PUGNAc or with high glucose and chronic insulin stimulation. In insulin-sensitive cell types, increased O-GlcNAc modification of IRS-1 observed under these conditions correlates with the development of insulin resistance to glucose transport. However, the direct effect of O-GlcNAc modification on the interaction of IRS-1 with binding partners is not known. The N-terminal phosphotyrosine binding domain of IRS-1 interacts with the insulin receptor kinase, whereas the phosphotyrosines within the C terminus of IRS-1 recruit downstream effectors including phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, SHP-2, GRB2, NCK, CRK, and SHB (14). These proteins are involved in mediating and regulating the metabolic responses to insulin and activating the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway (37). The site of O-GlcNAc modification occurs between the GRB2 binding site at phosphotyrosine at 895 and the two phosphotyrosine motifs at residues 1172 and 1222 that interact with SHP-2. Within this region of IRS-1 there are five other potential sites of tyrosine phosphorylation at residues 907, 939, 987, 999, and 1010, some of which cluster into known binding motifs (14). Identification of the major site of O-GlcNAc modification of IRS-1 will facilitate the investigation of the functional effects of this modification on signaling through IRS-1.
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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| FOOTNOTES |
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Published, MCP Papers in Press, October 22, 2005, DOI 10.1074/mcp.M500314-MCP200
1 The abbreviations used are: GlcNAc, ß-N-acetylglucosamine; IRS-1, insulin receptor substrate-1; BEMAD, ß-elimination followed by Michael addition with DTT; PFA, performic acid; PUGNAc, O-(2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucopyranosylidene)amino-N-phenylcarbamate; HRP, horseradish peroxidase; HEK, human kidney embryonic. ![]()
2 R. Gupta, J. Hansen, and S. Brunak, manuscript in preparation. ![]()
* This work was supported in part by National Institutes of Health Grant DK02001 (to M. G. B.). ![]()
S The on-line version of this article (available at http://www.mcponline.org) contains supplemental material. ![]()
Supported by National Institutes of Health Fellowship T32 HL07260 followed by a fellowship from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. ![]()
To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel.: 843-792-3618; Fax: 843-792-4114; E-mail: busemg{at}musc.edu
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