Background
Crohn's disease (CD) associated dysbiosis is characterized by a loss of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, whose culture supernatant exerts an anti-inflammatory effect both in vitro and in vivo. However, the chemical nature of the anti-inflammatory compounds has not yet been determined.
Methods
Peptidomic analysis using mass spectrometry was applied to F. prausnitzii supernatant. Anti-inflammatory effects of identified peptides were tested in vitro directly on intestinal epithelial cell lines and on cell lines transfected with a plasmid construction coding for the candidate protein encompassing these peptides. In vivo, the cDNA of the candidate protein was delivered to the gut by recombinant Lactic Acid Bacteria to prevent DNBS-colitis in mice.
Results
The seven peptides, identified in the F. prausnitzii culture supernatants, derived from a single Microbial Anti-inflammatory Molecule (MAM), a protein of 15 kDa and comprising 53% of nonpolar residues. This last feature prevented the direct characterization of the putative anti-inflammatory activity of MAM-derived peptides. Transfection of MAM cDNA in epithelial cells led to a significant decrease in the activation of the NF-κB pathway with a dose-dependent effect. Finally, the use of a food-grade bacterium, Lactococcus lactis, delivering a plasmid encoding MAM was able to alleviate DNBS-induced colitis in mice.
Conclusion
A 15kDa protein with anti-inflammatory properties is produced by F. prausnitzii, a commensal bacterium involved in CD pathogenesis. This protein is able to inhibit the NF-κB pathway in intestinal epithelial cells and to prevent colitis in an animal model.
Proteolytic labeling in H2(18)O has been recently revived as a versatile method for proteomics research. To understand the molecular basis of the labeling process, we have dissected the process into two separate events: cleavage of the peptide amide bonds and exchange of the terminal carboxyl oxygens. It was demonstrated that both carboxyl oxygens can be catalytically labeled, independent of the cleavage step. Reaction kinetics of the tryptic 16O-to-18O exchange of YGGFMR, YGGFMK, and the tryptic digest of apomyoglobin were studied by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. A larger KM for the Lys-peptide (4400 +/- 700 microM), when compared to that of the Arg-peptide (KM 1300 +/- 300 microM), was mainly responsible for the slower reaction with YGGFMK (kcat/KM 0.64 +/- 0.14 microM(-1)min(-1)) compared to YGGFMR (kcat/KM 2.6 +/- 0.9 microM(-1)min(-1)). Multiplexed kinetic studies showed that endoprotease-catalyzed oxygen exchange is a general phenomenon, allowing homogeneous 18O2-coding of a variety of peptides. It was demonstrated for the first time that chymotrypsin 18O2-codes peptides during proteolysis. On the basis of the analyses reported here, we propose that proteolytic 18O labeling can be advantageously decoupled from protein digestion, and endoproteases can be used in a separate step to 18O2-code peptides for comparative studies after proteolysis has taken place.
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