ABSTRACT: LD3 knock out cells were generated in HEK293T and HMC3 cells. Proteomics was done to test if they have any significant changes in the abundance of proteins that metabolize sugar lipids like gangliosides.
Project description:A microfluidics technology was implemented to the immunoaffinity purification process of MHC peptides in Ligandomics/Immunopeptidomics. The thus purified HLA peptides were analysed by LCMS with the nanoElute LC and TimsTOF Pro Mass Spectrometer from Bruker. The aim of the microfluidics implementation was to improve the sensitivity and robustness while also reducing antibody and other material requirements in the immunoaffinity purification protocol.
Project description:Protein ubiquitination controls diverse processes within eukaryotic cells, including protein degradation, and is often dysregulated in diseases1. Moreover, protein degraders that redirect ubiquitination activities toward disease targets are an emerging and promising therapeutic class2. Over 600 E3 ubiquitin ligases are expressed in humans3,4, but their substrates remain largely elusive due to a lack of robust methods to identify E3 ligase substrates. Here we report the development of E-STUB (E3 substrate tagging by ubiquitin biotinylation), a ubiquitin-specific proximity labeling method that biotinylates ubiquitinated substrates in proximity to an E3 ligase of interest. E-STUB accurately identifies the direct ubiquitinated targets of protein degraders, including collateral targets and ubiquitylation events that do not exhibit a degradative outcome. It also detects known substrates of E3 ligase cereblon (CRBN) and von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) with high precision. With the ability to elucidate proximal ubiquitination events, E-STUB may facilitate the development of proximity-inducing drugs and act as a generalizable method for E3 substrate mapping.
Project description:Protein ubiquitination controls diverse processes within eukaryotic cells, including protein degradation, and is often dysregulated in diseases1. Moreover, protein degraders that redirect ubiquitination activities toward disease targets are an emerging and promising therapeutic class2. Over 600 E3 ubiquitin ligases are expressed in humans3,4, but their substrates remain largely elusive due to a lack of robust methods to identify E3 ligase substrates. Here we report the development of E-STUB (E3 substrate tagging by ubiquitin biotinylation), a ubiquitin-specific proximity labeling method that biotinylates ubiquitinated substrates in proximity to an E3 ligase of interest. E-STUB accurately identifies the direct ubiquitinated targets of protein degraders, including collateral targets and ubiquitylation events that do not exhibit a degradative outcome. It also detects known substrates of E3 ligase cereblon (CRBN) and von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) with high precision. With the ability to elucidate proximal ubiquitination events, E-STUB may facilitate the development of proximity-inducing drugs and act as a generalizable method for E3 substrate mapping.
Project description:Protein ubiquitination controls diverse processes within eukaryotic cells, including protein degradation, and is often dysregulated in diseases1. Moreover, protein degraders that redirect ubiquitination activities toward disease targets are an emerging and promising therapeutic class2. Over 600 E3 ubiquitin ligases are expressed in humans3,4, but their substrates remain largely elusive due to a lack of robust methods to identify E3 ligase substrates. Here we report the development of E-STUB (E3 substrate tagging by ubiquitin biotinylation), a ubiquitin-specific proximity labeling method that biotinylates ubiquitinated substrates in proximity to an E3 ligase of interest. E-STUB accurately identifies the direct ubiquitinated targets of protein degraders, including collateral targets and ubiquitylation events that do not exhibit a degradative outcome. It also detects known substrates of E3 ligase cereblon (CRBN) and von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) with high precision. With the ability to elucidate proximal ubiquitination events, E-STUB may facilitate the development of proximity-inducing drugs and act as a generalizable method for E3 substrate mapping.
Project description:Small molecules that induce protein-protein interactions to exert proximity-driven pharmacology such as targeted protein degradation are a powerful class of therapeutics1-3. Molecular glues are of particular interest given their favorable size and chemical properties and represent the only clinically approved degrader drugs4-6. The discovery and development of molecular glues for novel targets, however, remains challenging. Covalent strategies could in principle facilitate molecular glue discovery by stabilizing the neo-protein interfaces. Here, we present structural and mechanistic studies that define a trans-labeling covalent molecular glue mechanism, which we term “template-assisted covalent modification”. We found that a novel series of BRD4 molecular glue degraders act by recruiting the CUL4DCAF16 ligase to the second bromodomain of BRD4 (BRD4BD2). BRD4BD2, in complex with DCAF16, serves as a structural template to facilitate covalent modification of DCAF16, which stabilizes the BRD4-degrader-DCAF16 ternary complex formation and facilitates BRD4 degradation. A 2.2 Å cryo-electron microscopy structure of the ternary complex demonstrates that DCAF16 and BRD4BD2 have pre-existing structural complementarity which optimally orients the reactive moiety of the degrader for DCAF16Cys58 covalent modification. Systematic mutagenesis of both DCAF16 and BRD4BD2 revealed that the loop conformation around BRD4His437, rather than specific side chains, is critical for BD2 selectivity. Supporting a general applicability, we find that a subset of compounds leads to a drug-induced GAK-BRD4 interaction stabilized by covalent modification of GAK. Together our work establishes “template-assisted covalent modification” as a mechanism for covalent molecular glues, which opens a new path to proximity driven pharmacology.
Project description:We employed PeptiCHIP Immunopeptidomics to profile tumor associated antigens (TAA) actively targeted by tumor specific T cells by exploiting the trogocytosis effect, whereby antigen presenting cells (APCs) nibble portions of the cognate T cell containing the TCR. The antigen presenting cells were then processed by Immunoaffinity purification by peptiCHIP to identify the relevant HLA-I peptides by LCMS on the Bruker Tims TOF Pro instrument.
Project description:Cell-to-cell communication plays a cardinal role in the biology of multicellular organisms. H2O2 is an important cell-to-cell signaling molecule involved in the response of mammalian cells to wounding and other stimuli. We previously identified a signaling pathway that transmits wound-induced H2O2 cell-to-cell signals within minutes over long distances, measured in centimeters, in a monolayer of cardiomyocyte cells. Here we report that this long-distance H2O2 signaling pathway is accompanied by enhanced accumulation of cytosolic H2O2 and altered redox state in cells along its path. In addition, we show that it requires the production of superoxide, as well as the function of gap junctions, and that it is accompanied by significant changes in the abundance of hundreds of proteins in different cells along its path. Our findings highlight the existence of a unique rapid long-distance H2O2-dependent signaling pathway that could play an important role in different inflammatory responses, wound responses/healing, cardiovascular disease, and/or other diseases
Project description:Small molecules that target the MENIN-KMT2A protein-protein interaction (Menin inhibitors) have recently entered clinical trials in lysine methyltransferase 2A (KMT2A, MLL1) rearranged (KMT2A-r) and nucleophosmin mutant (NPM1c) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and are demonstrating encouraging results. However, rationally chosen combination therapy is needed to improve responses and prevent resistance. We have previously identified IKZF1/IKAROS as a target in KMT2A-r AML and shown in preclinical models that IKAROS protein degradation with Lenalidomide or Iberdomide has modest single-agent activity yet can synergize with Menin inhibitors. Recently, the novel IKAROS degrader Mezigdomide was developed and has greatly enhanced IKAROS protein degradation. In this study we show that Mezigdomide has increased preclinical activity in vitro as a single-agent in KMT2A-r and NPM1c AML cell lines, including sensitivity in cell lines resistant to Lenalidomide and Iberdomide. Further, we demonstrate that Mezigdomide has the greatest capacity to synergize with and induce apoptosis in combination with Menin inhibitors. We show that the superior activity of Mezigdomide compared to Lenalidomide or Iberdomide is due to its increased depth, rate, and duration of IKAROS protein degradation. Single-agent Mezigdomide was efficacious in five patient derived xenograft (PDX) models of KMT2A-r and one NPM1c AML. The combination of Mezigdomide with a Menin inhibitor increased survival and prevented the development of recently described MEN1 mutations. These results support prioritization of Mezigdomide for early phase clinical trials in KMT2A-r and NPM1c AML, either as a single-agent or in combination with Menin inhibitors.