Identification of nitrated tyrosine residues of protein kinase G-Iα by mass spectrometry.

The nitration of tyrosine to 3-nitrotyrosine is an oxidative modification of tyrosine by nitric oxide and is associated with many diseases, and targeting of protein kinase G (PKG)-I represents a potential therapeutic strategy for pulmonary hypertension and chronic pain. The direct assignment of tyrosine residues of PKG-I has remained to be made due to the low sensitivity of the current proteomic approach. In order to assign modified tyrosine residues of PKG-I, we nitrated purified PKG-Iα expressed in insect Sf9 cells by use of peroxynitrite in vitro and analyzed the trypsin-digested fragments by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Among the 21 tyrosine residues of PKG-Iα, 16 tyrosine residues were assigned in 13 fragments; and six tyrosine residues were nitrated, those at Y71, Y141, Y212, Y336, Y345, and Y567, in the peroxynitrite-treated sample. Single mutation of tyrosine residues at Y71, Y212, and Y336 to phenylalanine significantly reduced the nitration of PKG-Iα; and four mutations at Y71, Y141, Y212, and Y336 (Y4F mutant) reduced it additively. PKG-Iα activity was inhibited by peroxynitrite in a concentration-dependent manner from 30 μM to 1 mM, and this inhibition was attenuated in the Y4F mutant. These results demonstrated that PKG-Iα was nitrated at multiple tyrosine residues and that its activity was reduced by nitration of these residues.