Proteomic profiling of H-Ras-G12V induced hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in transgenic mice using comparative LC-MS analysis of thin fresh-frozen tissue sections.
Determination of disease-relevant proteomic profiles from limited tissue specimens, such as pathological biopsies and tissues from small model organisms, remains an analytical challenge and a much needed clinical goal. In this study, a transgenic mouse disease model of cardiac-specific H-Ras-G12V induced hypertrophic cardiomyopathy provided a system to explore the potential of using mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics to obtain a disease-relevant molecular profile from amount-limited specimens that are routinely used in pathological diagnosis. Our method employs a two-stage methanol-assisted solubilization to digest lysates prepared from 8-μm-thick fresh-frozen histological tissue sections of diseased/experimental and normal/control hearts. Coupling this approach with a nanoflow reversed-phase liquid chromatography (LC) and a hybrid linear ion trap/Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance MS resulted in the identification of 704 and 752 proteins in hypertrophic and wild-type (control) myocardium, respectively. The disease driving H-Ras protein along with vimentin were unambiguously identified by LC-MS in hypertrophic myocardium and cross-validated by immunohistochemistry and western blotting. The pathway analysis involving proteins identified by MS showed strong association of proteomic data with cardiovascular disease. More importantly, the MS identification and subsequent cross-validation of Wnt3a and β-catenin, in conjunction with IHC identification of phosphorylated GSK-3β and nuclear localization of β-catenin, provided evidence of Wnt/β-catenin canonical pathway activation secondary to Ras activation in the course of pathogenic myocardial hypertrophic transformation. Our method yields results indicating that the described proteomic approach permits molecular discovery and assessment of differentially expressed proteins regulating H-Ras induced hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Selected proteins and pathways can be further investigated using immunohistochemical techniques applied to serial tissue sections of similar or different origin.
Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute , Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States.
Bih-Rong
BR
Wei
R Mark
RM
Simpson
Donald J
DJ
Johann
Jennifer E
JE
Dwyer
Darue A
DA
Prieto
Mia
M
Kumar
Xiaoying
X
Ye
Brian
B
Luke
Heather R
HR
Shive
Joshua D
JD
Webster
Shelley B
SB
Hoover
Timothy D
TD
Veenstra
Josip
J
Blonder
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002312:Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D015870:Gene Expression; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020125:Mutation, Missense; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020543:Proteome / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D040901:Proteomics; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras) / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014746:Vimentin / Q000378:metabolism; D060509:Wnt3A Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000378:metabolism
D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011498:Protein Precursors; D020543:Proteome; D014746:Vimentin; D060509:Wnt3A Protein; C555511:Wnt3a protein, mouse; D051176:beta Catenin; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras)