A neurosteroid analogue photolabeling reagent labels the colchicine-binding site on tubulin: A mass spectrometric analysis

作者：Chen, Zi-Wei; Chen, Li-Hai; Akentieva, Natalia; Lichti, Cheryl F.; Darbandi, Ramin; Hastings, Randy; Covey, Douglas F.; Reichert, David E.; Townsend, R. Reid; Evers, Alex S.^*

来源：Electrophoresis, 2012, 33(4): 666-674.

DOI：10.1002/elps.201100434

• Mass spectrometry
• Neurosteroids
• Photolabeling
• Tubulin

Previous studies have shown that the neurosteroid analogue, 6-Azi-pregnanolone (6-AziP), photolabels voltage-dependent anion channels and proteins of approximately 55 kDa in rat brain membranes. The present study used two-dimensional electrophoresis and nanoelectrospray ionization ion-trap mass spectrometry (nano-ESI-MS) to identify the 55 kDa proteins (isoelectric point 4.8) as isoforms of beta-tubulin. This identification was confirmed by immunoblot and immunoprecipitation of photolabeled protein with anti-beta-tubulin antibody and by the demonstration that 6-AziP photolabels purified bovine brain tubulin in a concentration-dependent pattern. To identify the photolabeling sites, purified bovine brain tubulin was photolabeled with 6-AziP, digested with trypsin, and analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization MS (MALDI). A 6-AziP adduct of TAVCDIPPR(m/z = 1287.77), a beta-tubulin specific peptide, was detected by MALDI. High-resolution liquid chromatography-MS/MS analysis identified that 6-AziP was covalently bound to cysteine 354 (Cys-354), previously identified as a colchicine-binding site. 6-AziP photolabeling was inhibited by 2-methoxyestradiol, an endogenous derivative of estradiol thought to bind to the colchicine site. Structural modeling predicted that neurosteroids could dock in this colchicine site at the interface between alpha- and beta-tubulin with the photolabeling group of 6-AziP positioned proximate to Cys-354.

• 出版日期2012-2
• 单位上海市闵行区中心医院; 上海交通大学