Activated thiol Sepharose-based proteomic approach to globally quantify protein oxidation

Abstract

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) can act as second messengers for various signaling pathways, and abnormal oxidation contributes to multiple diseases, including cancer. Detecting and quantifying protein oxidation is crucial for a detailed understanding of redox signaling. We developed an Activated Thiol Sepharose (ATS)-based proteomic approach (ATSP) to globally quantify protein oxidation. ATSP can enrich for H2O2-sensitive thiol peptides, which are more likely to contain reactive cysteines involved in redox signaling. We applied our approach to analyze hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell carcinoma (HLRCC), a type of kidney cancer that harbors fumarate hydratase (FH)-inactivating mutations and has elevated ROS levels. Multiple proteins were oxidized in FH-deficient cells, including many metabolic proteins, such as the M2 isoform of pyruvate kinase (PKM2). Treatment of HLRCC cells with dimethyl fumarate (DMF) or PKM2 activators alter PKM2 oxidation levels. This newly developed redox proteomics method can globally detect oxidation of reactive cysteines and can be employed to analyze multiple physiological and pathological conditions.