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Measuring the peptides in individual organelles with mass spectrometry

Nature Biotechnology volume 18, pages 172–175 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

New sampling protocols combined with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) allow the assay of single dense core vesicles. Understanding the packaging of vesicles is important as vesicles are the quanta of information for intercellular communication. Using vesicles from the exocrine atrial gland of Aplysia californica as the model, a wide range of bioactive peptides are detected within each vesicle. Although the expression of the egg-laying hormone gene family of type 1 atrial gland cells has been previously examined, chemical characterization of individual 1–2 μm diameter vesicles demonstrates that products from several genes are colocalized. The mass sensitivity of MALDI MS can be further improved to enable the analysis of even smaller subcellular organelles.

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Figure 1: Secretory granules from the atrial gland of Aplysia.
Figure 2: Schematic diagram of the protocol used for sampling vesicles.
Figure 3: MALDI MS of individual secretory granules indicates that products from several genes (Table 1) are colocalized.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Gregg Nagle and Sherry Painter for insightful comments about atrial gland peptides, and we thank Christian Reilly for assistance with animal collection. This work is supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Dreyfus Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Beckman Institute, University of Illinois, Urbana, 61801, IL

    Stanislav S. Rubakhin, Rebecca W. Garden, Robert R. Fuller & Jonathan V. Sweedler

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  1. Stanislav S. Rubakhin
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  2. Rebecca W. Garden
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Correspondence to Jonathan V. Sweedler.

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Rubakhin, S., Garden, R., Fuller, R. et al. Measuring the peptides in individual organelles with mass spectrometry. Nat Biotechnol 18, 172–175 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/72622

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