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Using hyperLOPIT to perform high-resolution mapping of the spatial proteome

Nature Protocols volume 12, pages 1110–1135 (2017)Cite this article

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Abstract

The organization of eukaryotic cells into distinct subcompartments is vital for all functional processes, and aberrant protein localization is a hallmark of many diseases. Microscopy methods, although powerful, are usually low-throughput and dependent on the availability of fluorescent fusion proteins or highly specific and sensitive antibodies. One method that provides a global picture of the cell is localization of organelle proteins by isotope tagging (LOPIT), which combines biochemical cell fractionation using density gradient ultracentrifugation with multiplexed quantitative proteomics mass spectrometry, allowing simultaneous determination of the steady-state distribution of hundreds of proteins within organelles. Proteins are assigned to organelles based on the similarity of their gradient distribution to those of well-annotated organelle marker proteins. We have substantially re-developed our original LOPIT protocol (published by Nature Protocols in 2006) to enable the subcellular localization of thousands of proteins per experiment (hyperLOPIT), including spatial resolution at the suborganelle and large protein complex level. This Protocol Extension article integrates all elements of the hyperLOPIT pipeline, including an additional enrichment strategy for chromatin, extended multiplexing capacity of isobaric mass tags, state-of-the-art mass spectrometry methods and multivariate machine-learning approaches for analysis of spatial proteomics data. We have also created an open-source infrastructure to support analysis of quantitative mass-spectrometry-based spatial proteomics data (http://bioconductor.org/packages/pRoloc) and an accompanying interactive visualization framework (http://www.bioconductor.org/packages/pRolocGUI). The procedure we outline here is applicable to any cell culture system and requires ∼1 week to complete sample preparation steps, ∼2 d for mass spectrometry data acquisition and 1–2 d for data analysis and downstream informatics.

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Figure 1: The hyperLOPIT workflow.
Figure 2
Figure 3: Biochemical subcellular fractionation using density gradient ultracentrifugation.
Figure 4: PCA plots of the first two principal components of data collected using the hyperLOPIT technology from embryonic mouse stem cells.
Figure 5: A screenshot of the (default) pRolocVis application in pRolocGUI.

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Acknowledgements

C.M.M. and L.M.B. were supported by a Wellcome Trust Technology Development Grant (grant no. 108467/Z/15/Z). L.G. was supported by the BBSRC Strategic Longer and Larger grant (grant no. BB/L002817/1). A.G. was funded through the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, the Foundation for Education and European Culture (IPEP) and the Embiricos Trust Scholarship of Jesus College Cambridge. D.J.H.N. was supported by a BBSRC grant (grant no. BB/LOO2817). K.S.L. is a Wellcome Trust Joint Senior Investigator (grant no. 110170/Z/15/Z).

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Author notes

  1. Claire M Mulvey and Lisa M Breckels: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, Cambridge Centre for Proteomics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Claire M Mulvey, Lisa M Breckels, Aikaterini Geladaki, Nina Kočevar Britovšek, Daniel J H Nightingale, Mohamed Elzek, Michael J Deery, Laurent Gatto & Kathryn S Lilley

  2. Department of Biochemistry, Computational Proteomics Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Lisa M Breckels & Laurent Gatto

  3. Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Aikaterini Geladaki

  4. Celgene Institute for Translational Research Europe (CITRE), Seville, Spain

    Andy Christoforou

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Contributions

C.M.M., L.M.B. and K.S.L. wrote the manuscript with contributions from M.J.D. and A.G. Figures were prepared by L.M.B., A.G. and C.M.M. L.G., D.J.H.N., N.K.B., M.E. and A.C. advised on the content and layout of the protocol.

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Correspondence to Kathryn S Lilley.

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Mulvey, C., Breckels, L., Geladaki, A. et al. Using hyperLOPIT to perform high-resolution mapping of the spatial proteome. Nat Protoc 12, 1110–1135 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2017.026

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