Analysis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cell envelope proteome by capture of surface-exposed proteins on activated magnetic nanoparticles

PLoS One. 2012;7(11):e51062. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0051062. Epub 2012 Nov 30.

Abstract

We report on specific magneto-capturing followed by Multidimensional Protein Identification Technology (MudPIT) for the analysis of surface-exposed proteins of intact cells of the bacterial opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The magneto-separation of cell envelope fragments from the soluble cytoplasmic fraction allowed the MudPIT identification of the captured and neighboring proteins. Remarkably, we identified 63 proteins captured directly by nanoparticles and 67 proteins embedded in the cell envelope fragments. For a high number of proteins, our analysis strongly indicates either surface exposure or localization in an envelope district. The localization of most identified proteins was only predicted or totally unknown. This novel approach greatly improves the sensitivity and specificity of the previous methods, such as surface shaving with proteases that was also tested on P. aeruginosa. The magneto-capture procedure is simple, safe, and rapid, and appears to be well-suited for envelope studies in highly pathogenic bacteria.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Cell Membrane / metabolism*
  • Cell Membrane / ultrastructure
  • Magnetite Nanoparticles / chemistry*
  • Magnetite Nanoparticles / ultrastructure
  • Protein Binding
  • Proteome / metabolism*
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / cytology*
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / metabolism*
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / ultrastructure
  • Reproducibility of Results

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Magnetite Nanoparticles
  • Proteome

Grants and funding

This work was funded by the Italian Cystic Fibrosis Research Foundation (grant FFC#8/2006, with the contribution of “Antonio Guadagnin & Figlio Srl, Montebelluna - TV”, “Braccialini - Vivienne Westwood e Testate Italiane di Moda” and “Martinelli Giovanni Pietro - Villa d’Almé - BG”), the European Commission (grant NABATIVI, EU-FP7-HEALTH-2007-B contract number 223670) and Fondazione Cariplo (grant 2007.5725). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.