title: Palmitylation of a G-protein coupled receptor. Direct analysis by tandem mass spectrometry.
abstract: Bovine rhodopsin has been reported to be S-palmitylated at cysteines 322 and 323 (Ovchinnikov, Y. A., Abdulaev, N. G., and Bogachuk, A.S. (1988) FEBS Lett. 230, 1-5). Using a combination of enzymatic and chemical cleavage techniques in conjunction with tandem mass spectrometry, the sites of incorporation of the palmityl groups are shown. Bovine rhodopsin in disc membranes was digested with thermolysin to generate the C-terminal fragment (241-327), which was subsequently cleaved with cyanogen bromide to generate the peptide Val-Thr-Thr-Leu-Cys-Cys-Gly-Lys-Asn-Pro (318-327). A bis-S-palmitylated synthetic standard had the same retention time by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography as the isolated peptide and the same molecular weight (MH+1511.7) by liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry. Dithiothreitol reduction of both the isolated and the synthetic peptide cleaved the two thioester-linked palmityl groups to produce reduction products of the same appropriately decreased molecular weight (MH+1035.5). Tandem mass spectrometry of the isolated and the synthetic peptide identified the sites of attachment of the palmityl groups on cysteines 322 and 323. These results prove the modification of cysteines 322 and 323 with palmitic acid in bovine rhodopsin, and illustrate the utility of mass spectrometry to characterize the post-translational modifications in G-protein coupled receptors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Molecular Pharmacology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston 29425.
authors.forename: D I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Papac
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Thornburg
authors.forename: E E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Büllesbach
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Crouch
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Knapp
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003488:Cyanogen Bromide; D003545:Cysteine; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008961:Models, Structural; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019308:Palmitic Acid; D010169:Palmitic Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012243:Rhodopsin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D012374:Rod Cell Outer Segment / Q000378:metabolism; D013820:Thermolysin
chemical_list: D010169:Palmitic Acids; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D019308:Palmitic Acid; D012243:Rhodopsin; D013820:Thermolysin; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins; D003545:Cysteine; D003488:Cyanogen Bromide