Membrane protein shaving with thermolysin can be used to evaluate topology predictors.

Topology analysis of membrane proteins can be obtained by enzymatic shaving in combination with MS identification of peptides. Ideally, such analysis could provide quite detailed information about the membrane spanning regions. Here, we examine the ability of some shaving enzymes to provide large-scale analysis of membrane proteome topologies.

Relative quantification of membrane proteins in wild-type and prion protein (PrP)-knockout cerebellar granule neurons.

Approximately 25% of eukaryotic proteins possessing homology to at least two transmembrane domains are predicted to be embedded in biological membranes. Nevertheless, this group of proteins is not usually well represented in proteome-wide experiments due to their refractory nature. Here we present a quantitative mass spectrometry-based comparison of membrane protein expression in cerebellar granule neurons grown in primary culture that were isolated from wild-type mice and mice lacking the cellular prion protein.

Hunting for protein markers of hypoxia by combining plasma membrane enrichment with a new approach to membrane protein analysis.

Nontransient hypoxia is strongly associated with malignant lesions, resulting in aggressive behavior and resistance to treatment. We present an analysis of mRNA and protein expression changes in neuroblastoma cell lines occurring upon the transition from normoxia to hypoxia. The correlation between mRNA and protein level changes was poor, although some known hypoxia-driven genes and proteins correlated well.

Quantification of membrane proteins using nonspecific protease digestions.

We present a mass spectrometry-based method for the identification and quantification of membrane proteins using the low-specificity protease Proteinase K, at very high pH, to digest proteins isolated by a modified SDS-PAGE protocol. The resulting peptides are modified with a fragmentation-directing isotope labeled tag. We apply the method to quantify differences in membrane protein expression of Bacillus subtilis grown in the presence or absence of glucose.