Mapping protein carboxymethylation sites provides insights into their role in proteostasis and cell proliferation

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 12; no. 1; p. 6743
• Main Authors: Di Sanzo, Simone, Spengler, Katrin, Leheis, Anja, Kirkpatrick, Joanna M., Rändler, Theresa L., Baldensperger, Tim, Dau, Therese, Henning, Christian, Parca, Luca, Marx, Christian, Wang, Zhao-Qi, Glomb, Marcus A., Ori, Alessandro, Heller, Regine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 18.11.2021; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 13/31; 13/95; 14/63; 631/337/458; 631/443/7; 631/45/475; 631/80/474/1768; 64/60; 82/16; 82/29; 82/58; 96/1; Acetylation; Advanced glycosylation end products; Aging; Aging - metabolism; Animals; Carboxymethylation; Carboxymethyllysine; Cell cycle; Cell growth; Cell Line; Cell proliferation; Cell Proliferation - physiology; Cellular communication; Endothelial cells; Endothelial Cells - drug effects; Endothelial Cells - metabolism; Glycosylation; Glyoxal - pharmacology; Homeostasis; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Lysine - analogs & derivatives; Lysine - drug effects; Lysine - metabolism; Methylation; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Microtubules - metabolism; multidisciplinary; Peptide mapping; Perturbation; Primary Cell Culture; Protein Processing, Post-Translational - physiology; Proteins; Proteins - metabolism; Proteomics; Proteomics - methods; Proteostasis - physiology; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Tubulin - metabolism
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26982-6

Posttranslational mechanisms play a key role in modifying the abundance and function of cellular proteins. Among these, modification by advanced glycation end products has been shown to accumulate during aging and age-associated diseases but specific protein targets and functional consequences remain largely unexplored. Here, we devise a proteomic strategy to identify sites of carboxymethyllysine modification, one of the most abundant advanced glycation end products. We identify over 1000 sites of protein carboxymethylation in mouse and primary human cells treated with the glycating agent glyoxal. By using quantitative proteomics, we find that protein glycation triggers a proteotoxic response and indirectly affects the protein degradation machinery. In primary endothelial cells, we show that glyoxal induces cell cycle perturbation and that carboxymethyllysine modification reduces acetylation of tubulins and impairs microtubule dynamics. Our data demonstrate the relevance of carboxymethyllysine modification for cellular function and pinpoint specific protein networks that might become compromised during aging. Accumulation of advanced glycation end products such as carboxymethyllysine (CML) has been associated with aging but their molecular roles are largely unclear. Here, the authors use proteomics to identify CML sites and show that CML formation affects protein homeostasis and cell proliferation.