Cited by 421Advanced Proteomics Techniques and ApplicationsLeptospirosis research and findingsMass Spectrometry Techniques and Applications

Proteome-wide cellular protein concentrations of the human pathogen Leptospira interrogans

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Malmström, Johan, Beck, Martin, Schmidt, Alexander, Lange, Vinzenz, Deutsch, Eric W., Aebersold, Ruedi·2009·Nature

Abstract

Mass-spectrometry-based methods for relative proteome quantification have broadly affected life science research. However, important research directions, particularly those involving mathematical modelling and simulation of biological processes, also critically depend on absolutely quantitative data--that is, knowledge of the concentration of the expressed proteins as a function of cellular state. Until now, absolute protein concentration measurements of a considerable fraction of the proteome (73%) have only been derived from genetically altered Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells, a technique that is not directly portable from yeast to other species. Here we present a mass-spectrometry-based strategy to determine the absolute quantity, that is, the average number of protein copies per cell in a cell population, for a large fraction of the proteome in genetically unperturbed cells. Applying the technology to the human pathogen Leptospira interrogans, a spirochete responsible for leptospirosis, we generated an absolute protein abundance scale for 83% of the mass-spectrometry-detectable proteome, from cells at different states. Taking advantage of the unique cellular dimensions of L. interrogans, we used cryo-electron tomography morphological measurements to verify, at the single-cell level, the average absolute abundance values of selected proteins determined by mass spectrometry on a population of cells. Because the strategy is relatively fast and applicable to any cell type, we expect that it will become a cornerstone of quantitative biology and systems biology.

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  • Tissue-specific amino acid precursor pools and recycling rates did not appreciably affect the results.

    “Tissue-specific amino acid precursor pools and recycling rates, a pervasive problem for in vivo pulse labeling experiments 15,22 , did not appreciably affect our results (Fig. S1).”

    From Global quantification of mammalian gene expression control (2011) · cites this paper as [22]

    The citation is attached to the description of tissue-specific precursor pools and recycling rates as a problem for in vivo pulse labeling; the statement about 'our results' is the citing authors’ own finding. Our copy describes mass-spectrometry measurements of protein concentrations in L. interrogans (Abstract; page unavailable), but the passages found when searching for precursor pools, recycling rates, and pulse labeling do not address that problem. (LLM, conf=0.77)

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  • Mass spectrometry-based methods can overcome these difficulties and were recently used to determine protein copy numbers per cell for a significant fraction of the proteome of two bacterial species and yeast.

    “Mass spectrometry (MS)-based methods can overcome these difficulties and were recently used to determine protein copy numbers per cell for a significant fraction of the proteome of two bacterial species, namely Mycoplasma pneumonia and Leptospira interrogans (Malmstrom et al, 2009; Maier et al, 2011) and yeast (de Godoy et al, 2008).”

    From The quantitative proteome of a human cell line (2011) · cites this paper as Malmstrom et al, 2009

  • Three different protein abundance scores were calculated and their precision was validated by statistical analysis.

    “We used the same data to calculate three different protein abundance scores as previously described (Ishihama et al, 2005; Silva et al, 2006; Malmstrom et al, 2009) and validated their precision by statistical analysis (Supplementary Figure S1; see Supplementary information for detail).”

    From The quantitative proteome of a human cell line (2011) · cites this paper as Malmstrom et al, 2009

  • The dynamic range of protein concentrations spans more than three orders of magnitude in L. interrogans and five orders of magnitude in yeast.

    “We and others have previously shown that the dynamic range of protein concentrations spans more than three orders of magnitude in the bacterium L. interrogans (Malmstrom et al, 2009) and five orders of magnitude in yeast (Ghaemmaghami et al, 2003; de Godoy et al, 2008; Picotti et al, 2009).”

    From The quantitative proteome of a human cell line (2011) · cites this paper as Malmstrom et al, 2009

  • Those proteins make up the majority of the total protein mass and a considerable fraction of the cytoplasmic volume, while proteins functioning in signaling, protein transport, or regulatory pathways, e.g. transcription factors, comprise a minority of the quantitative proteome.

    “Those proteins make up the majority of the total protein mass (Malmstrom et al, 2009) and a considerable fraction of the cytoplasmic volume (Beck et al, 2009), while proteins functioning in signaling, protein transport, or regulatory pathways, e.g. transcription factors, comprise a minority of the quantitative proteome.”

    From The quantitative proteome of a human cell line (2011) · cites this paper as Malmstrom et al, 2009

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [19]Briegel Ariane Location and architecture of the Caulobacter crescentus chemoreceptor array in press 2008 PMC3090075 18363791

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Authors
Malmström, J., Beck, M., Schmidt, A., Lange, V., Deutsch, E. W., & Aebersold, R.
Affiliations
  • ETH Zurich (CH)
  • Institute for Systems Biology (US)
  • University of Zurich (CH)
Corresponding author
Aebersold, Ruedi
Venue
Nature
Published
2009-07-15
Volume
460
Issue
7256
Pages
762-765
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W2041852635
Cited by
421
References
33
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 28 · 2015: 23 · 2014: 35 · 2013: 37 · 2012: 60
FWCI
23.35
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • Lund University Publications (Lund University) (submittedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (n01hv28179-12-0-0)
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (N01 HV028179, N01-HV-28179)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Spectroscopy › Advanced Proteomics Techniques and Applications
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Parasitology › Leptospirosis research and findings
  • Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Spectroscopy › Mass Spectrometry Techniques and Applications
Keywords
Leptospira interrogans, protein copy number, leptospirosis, cryo-electron tomography, quantitative proteomics, spirochetes
MeSH terms
Bacterial Proteins, Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid, Chromatography, Liquid, Humans, Leptospira interrogans, Mass Spectrometry, Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization, Cryoelectron Microscopy, Proteome, Proteomics, Tandem Mass Spectrometry, Electron Microscope Tomography

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