Identification of O-Linked N-Acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc)-modified Osteoblast Proteins by Electron Transfer Dissociation Tandem Mass Spectrometry Reveals Proteins Critical for Bone Formation

• DOI: 10.1074/mcp.m112.026633
• Publication Date: 2013-02-27T10:07:06Z
• Authors: Alexis K. Nagel; Michael Schilling; Susana Comte-Walters; Mary N. Berkaw; Lauren E. Ball
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; Acetylgalactosamine; Glycosylation; Osteoblasts; Proteome; Molecular Sequence Data; Chromatography, Affinity; Peptide Fragments; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice; 03 medical and health sciences; Osteogenesis; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Carbohydrate Conformation; Animals; Humans; Amino Acid Sequence; Protein Processing, Post-Translational; Cells, Cultured; Glycoproteins

The nutrient-responsive β-O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) modification of critical effector proteins modulates signaling and transcriptional pathways contributing to cellular development and survival. An elevation in global protein O-GlcNAc modification occurs during the early stages of osteoblast differentiation and correlates with enhanced transcriptional activity of RUNX2, a key regulator of osteogenesis. To identify other substrates of O-GlcNAc transferase in differentiating MC3T3E1 osteoblasts, O-GlcNAc-modified peptides were enriched by wheat germ agglutinin lectin weak affinity chromatography and identified by tandem mass spectrometry using electron transfer dissociation. This peptide fragmentation approach leaves the labile O-linkage intact permitting direct identification of O-GlcNAc-modified peptides. O-GlcNAc modification was observed on enzymes involved in post-translational regulation, including MAST4 and WNK1 kinases, a ubiquitin-associated protein (UBAP2l), and the histone acetyltransferase CREB-binding protein. CREB-binding protein, a transcriptional co-activator that associates with CREB and RUNX2, is O-GlcNAcylated at Ser-147 and Ser-2360, the latter of which is a known site of phosphorylation. Additionally, O-GlcNAcylation of components of the TGFβ-activated kinase 1 (TAK1) signaling complex, TAB1 and TAB2, occurred in close proximity to known sites of Ser/Thr phosphorylation and a putative nuclear localization sequence within TAB2. These findings demonstrate the presence of O-GlcNAc modification on proteins critical to bone formation, remodeling, and fracture healing and will enable evaluation of this modification on protein function and regulation.