Aspergillus niger Prolyl Endoprotease for Hydrogen-Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry and Protein Structural Studies

Anal Chem. 2017 Aug 1;89(15):7966-7973. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.7b01161. Epub 2017 Jul 12.

Abstract

To monitor the structural integrity of therapeutic proteins, hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) is increasingly utilized in the pharmaceutical industry. The successful outcome of HDX-MS analyses depends on the sample preparation conditions, which involve the rapid digestion of proteins at 0 °C and pH 2.5. Very few proteases are able to withstand such harsh conditions, with pepsin being the best-known exception, even though its activity is also strongly reduced at 0 °C. Here, we evaluate the usage of a prolyl endopeptidase from Aspergillus niger (An-PEP) for HDX-MS. What makes this protease very attractive is that it cleaves preferentially the hardest to digest amino acid, proline. To our surprise, and in contrast to previous reports, An-PEP activity was found optimal around pH 2.5 and could be further enhanced by urea up to 40%. Under typical HDX-MS conditions and using small amounts of enzyme, An-PEP generated an equivalent number of peptides as pepsin, as exemplified by using the two model systems tetrameric human hemoglobin (Hb) and human IgG4. Interestingly, because An-PEP peptides are shorter than pepsin-generated peptides, higher sequence resolution could be achieved, especially for Pro-containing protein regions in the alpha subunit of Hb, revealing new protected Hb regions that were not observed with pepsin. Due to its Pro-preference and resistance to low pH, we conclude that An-PEP is an archetype enzyme for HDX-MS, highly complementary to pepsin, and especially promising for structural studies on Pro-rich proteins or proteins containing Pro-rich binding domains involved in cellular signaling.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aspergillus niger / enzymology*
  • Deuterium Exchange Measurement
  • Fungal Proteins / chemistry*
  • Fungal Proteins / metabolism
  • Hemoglobins / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
  • Immunoglobulin G / metabolism
  • Mass Spectrometry*
  • Pepsin A / metabolism
  • Prolyl Oligopeptidases
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Serine Endopeptidases / chemistry*
  • Serine Endopeptidases / metabolism
  • Temperature

Substances

  • Fungal Proteins
  • Hemoglobins
  • Immunoglobulin G
  • Serine Endopeptidases
  • PREPL protein, human
  • Prolyl Oligopeptidases
  • Pepsin A