Vis sammendrag
Studies in the last decades have demonstrated the importance of secreted proteins in bacterial pathogenesis. Secreted membrane vesicles (MVs), in particular, have been suggested to serve as a vehicle for the selective packaging and release of virulence factors, such as toxins and immunomodulatory molecules (1-2). Previous studies on Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) pathogenesis have shown that phagocytosed dead bacilli with no secreted proteins lose their ability to hinder phagosome-lysosome fusion (3). Therefore, understanding the contents and mechanism of action of MV proteins will lead to deeper understanding of TB disease. The aim of this project is characterise the proteomic profile of Mtb MVs to unveil their role in host-pathogen interaction.
Mtb H37Rv cells were cultured in minimal media (MM) at 37 °C to mid-log phase (OD600 = 0.8) and the filtered cell free supernatant was used as a source to isolate MVs by density gradient ultra-centrifugation (4). The purified membrane vesicles and cellular pellets were loaded on Bis-Tris Protein Gels (4-12%) for in-gel digestion and cleaned up using c-18 zip-tip columns (5) before injection into the Q-Exactive mass spectrometer (Thermo Scientific, Germany) in triplicates. MaxQuant software was used to define the amounts of the various peptides present and the data was analyzed using Perseus software. The functional categories for the differentially expressed proteins identified were grouped using the KEGG database.
The concentration and size distribution of membrane vesicles isolated were measured using NanoSight and the size ranges from 70-400 nm in diameter. Next-generation mass spectrometry revealed that there is enriched packaging of virulence associated mycobacterial proteins in MVs. A total of 83 proteins were identified in Mtb MVs out of which 69 are shared with the cellular proteome and 14 found exclusively in MVs. The majority of the MV components detected were secreted proteins which are reported to be major virulence factors (antigen 85 complex, ESAT-6 and PE/PPE). Furthermore, 71 proteins have never been reported in Mtb membrane vesicles before (2, 4), and some of the proteins were uncharacterized. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed proteins involved in two-component systems, ABC transporters, amino acid and fatty acid metabolism, and catalytic and hydrolase activity.
This study generated new knowledge on the proteomic profile of Mtb MVs and their surface-exposed antigens. We have characterized Mtb membrane vesicles, which are enriched with surface/secreted antigenic proteins and virulence factors. Further in-silico and in-vitro/in-vivo study is needed to investigate the clinical relevance of the MV proteins identified, including the newly discovered un-characterized proteins.
References:
1. Kuehn MJ, Kesty NC. Bacterial outer membrane vesicles and the host–pathogen interaction. Genes & development. 2005 Nov 15;19(22):2645-55.
2. Lee J, Kim SH, Choi DS, Lee JS, Kim DK, Go G, Park SM, Kim SH, Shin JH, Chang CL, Gho YS. Proteomic analysis of extracellular vesicles derived from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Proteomics. 2015 Oct 1;15(19):3331-7.
3. Russell DG, Purdy GE, Owens RM, Rohde KH, Yates RM. Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the four minute phagosome. ASM News. 2005;71:459–463.
4. Prados-Rosales R, Brown L, Casadevall A, Montalvo-Quirós S, Luque-Garcia JL. Isolation and identification of membrane vesicle-associated proteins in Gram-positive bacteria and mycobacteria. MethodsX. 2014 Dec 31;1:124-9
5. Wiśniewski JR, Zougman A, Mann M. Combination of FASP and StageTip-based fractionation allows in-depth analysis of the hippocampal membrane proteome. J Proteome Res 8(12):5674-8, 2009.