Cited by 29Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ResearchMass Spectrometry Techniques and ApplicationsRedox biology and oxidative stress

Parsing disease‐relevant protein modifications from epiphenomena: perspective on the structural basis of SOD1‐mediated ALS

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Schmitt, N. D., Agar, J. N.·2017·Journal of Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

Conformational change and modification of proteins are involved in many cellular functions. However, they can also have adverse effects that are implicated in numerous diseases. How structural change promotes disease is generally not well‐understood. This perspective illustrates how mass spectrometry (MS), followed by toxicological and epidemiological validation, can discover disease‐relevant structural changes and therapeutic strategies. We (with our collaborators) set out to characterize the structural and toxic consequences of disease‐associated mutations and post‐translational modifications (PTMs) of the cytosolic antioxidant protein Cu/Zn‐superoxide dismutase (SOD1). Previous genetic studies discovered >180 different mutations in the SOD1 gene that caused familial (inherited) amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (fALS). Using hydrogen–deuterium exchange with mass spectrometry, we determined that diverse disease‐associated SOD1 mutations cause a common structural defect – perturbation of the SOD1 electrostatic loop. X‐ray crystallographic studies had demonstrated that this leads to protein aggregation through a specific interaction between the electrostatic loop and an exposed beta‐barrel edge strand. Using epidemiology methods, we then determined that decreased SOD1 stability and increased protein aggregation are powerful risk factors for fALS progression, with a combined hazard ratio > 300 (for comparison, a lifetime of smoking is associated with a hazard ratio of ~15 for lung cancer). The resulting structural model of fALS etiology supported the hypothesis that some sporadic ALS (sALS, ~80% of ALS is not associated with a gene defect) could be caused by post‐translational protein modification of wild‐type SOD1. We developed immunocapture antibodies and high sensitivity top‐down MS methods and characterized PTMs of wild‐type SOD1 using human tissue samples. Using global hydrogen–deuterium exchange, X‐ray crystallography and neurotoxicology, we then characterized toxic and protective subsets of SOD1 PTMs. To cap this perspective, we present proof‐of‐concept that post‐translational modification can cause disease. We show that numerous mutations (N➔D; Q➔E), which result in the same chemical structure as the PTM deamidation, cause multiple diseases. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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  • In neurological disease and aging, modified proteins are the histopathological hallmarks of a number of diseases, such as SOD1 in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and a class of diseases long referred to as the proteinopathies, including tauopathies in Alzheimer's disease and inclusions of amyloid beta, alpha-synuclein in Parkinson's and multiple secondary ubiquitinopathies.

    “In neurological disease and aging, modified proteins are the histopathological hallmarks of a number of diseases, such as SOD1 in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) 56,57 , and a class of diseases long referred to as the proteinopathies 57 , including tauopathies in Alzheimer's disease 58 and inclusions of amyloidβ 59 , α -synuclein in Parkinson's 60,61 and multiple secondary ubiquitinopathies”

    From How many human proteoforms are there? (2018) · cites this paper as [57]

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  1. [13]Dickson DW Chapter 7 Ubiquitinopathies Blue Books of Neurology 2007 30 165 185
  2. [18]Molnar KS A Common Property of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis-associated Variants: DESTABILIZATION OF THE COPPER/ZINC SUPEROXIDE DISMUTASE ELECTROSTATIC LOOP Journal of Biological Chemistry 2009 284 45 30965 30973 19635794 PMC2781497
  3. [28]Wilcox KC Modifications of superoxide dismutase (SOD1) in human erythrocytes: a possible role in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis J Biol Chem 2009 284 20 13940 7 19299510 PMC2679493
  4. [59]Molnar KS A common property of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-associated variants: destabilization of the copper/zinc superoxide dismutase electrostatic loop J Biol Chem 2009 284 PMC2781497 19635794
  5. [62]Valentine JS Doucette PA Zittin Potter S Copper-zinc superoxide dismutase and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Annu Rev Biochem 2005 74 563 93 15952898
  6. [113]Reiman EM Alzheimer's disease: Attack on amyloid-[beta] protein Nature 2016 537 7618 36 37 27582214

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Authors
Schmitt, N. D., & Agar, J. N.
Affiliations
Northeastern University (US)
Corresponding author
Agar, J. N.
Venue
Journal of Mass Spectrometry
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2017-07
Volume
52
Issue
7
Pages
480-491
ISSN
  • 1076-5174 (ISSN-L)
  • 1096-9888
OpenAlex
W2734586273
Cited by
29
References
115
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2024: 6 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 2
FWCI
3.24
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Mass Spectrometry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institutes of Health (1R21NS071256, R01NS065263)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research
  • Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Spectroscopy › Mass Spectrometry Techniques and Applications
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Redox biology and oxidative stress
Keywords
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, SOD1, post-translational modification, deamidation, protein aggregation, hydrogen-deuterium exchange, familial ALS, sporadic ALS, protein stability, top-down mass spectrometry, neurotoxicity, disease risk factors
MeSH terms
Superoxide Dismutase-1, Proof of Concept Study, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Binding Sites, Computer Simulation, Epidemiologic Methods, Humans, Models, Molecular, Mutation, Protein Binding, Protein Conformation, Protein Processing, Post-Translational, Mass Spectrometry, Crystallography, X-Ray, Static Electricity, Proteolysis

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