Key Laboratory of Physiological Ecology and Genetic Improvement of Food Crops in Henan Province, College of Life Science, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China.
PLoS One. 2012;7(11):e50497. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0050497. Epub 2012 Nov 20.
Pinellia ternata tuber is one of the well-known Chinese traditional medicines. In order to understand the pharmacological properties of tuber proteins, it is necessary to perform proteome analysis of P. ternata tubers. However, a few high-abundance proteins (HAPs), mainly mannose-binding lectin (agglutinin), exist in aggregates of various sizes in the tubers and seriously interfere with proteome profiling by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE). Therefore, selective depletion of these HAPs is a prerequisite for enhanced proteome analysis of P. ternata tubers. Based on differential protein solubility, we developed a novel protocol involving two sequential extractions for depletion of some HAPs and prefractionation of tuber proteins prior to 2-DE. The first extraction using 10% acetic acid selectively extracted acid-soluble HAPs and the second extraction using the SDS-containing buffer extracted remaining acid-insoluble proteins. After application of the protocol, 2-DE profiles of P. ternata tuber proteins were greatly improved and more protein spots were detected, especially low-abundance proteins. Moreover, the subunit composition of P. ternata lectin was analyzed by electrophoresis. Native lectin consists of two hydrogen-bonded subunits (11 kDa and 25 kDa) and the 11 kDa subunit was a glycoprotein. Subsequently, major HAPs in the tubers were analyzed by mass spectrometry, with nine protein spots being identified as lectin isoforms. The methodology was easy to perform and required no specialized apparatus. It would be useful for proteome analysis of other tuber plants of Araceae.
半夏块茎是一种著名的中药。为了了解块茎蛋白的药理学特性,有必要对半夏块茎进行蛋白质组分析。然而,一些高丰度蛋白(HAPs),主要是甘露糖结合凝集素(凝集素),以各种大小的聚集体形式存在于块茎中,严重干扰了双向电泳(2-DE)的蛋白质组谱分析。因此,选择性去除这些 HAPs 是增强半夏块茎蛋白质组分析的前提。基于差异蛋白溶解性,我们开发了一种新的方案,包括两次连续提取,以去除一些 HAPs,并在 2-DE 之前对块茎蛋白进行预分级。使用 10%乙酸的第一次提取选择性提取酸溶性 HAPs,而含有 SDS 的缓冲液的第二次提取则提取剩余的酸不溶性蛋白。应用该方案后,半夏块茎蛋白的 2-DE 图谱得到了极大改善,检测到了更多的蛋白斑点,特别是低丰度蛋白。此外,还通过电泳分析了半夏凝集素的亚基组成。天然凝集素由两个氢键结合的亚基(11 kDa 和 25 kDa)组成,11 kDa 亚基是糖蛋白。随后,通过质谱分析了块茎中的主要 HAPs,鉴定出 9 个蛋白斑点为凝集素同工型。该方法易于操作,不需要特殊设备。它将对天南星科其他块茎植物的蛋白质组分析有用。