SUMMARY Cellular processes often depend on stable physical associations between proteins. Despite recent progress, knowledge of the composition of human protein complexes remains limited. To close this gap, we applied an integrative global proteomic profiling approach, based on chromatographic separation of cultured human cell extracts into more than one thousand biochemical fractions which were subsequently analyzed by quantitative tandem mass spectrometry, to systematically identify a network of 13,993 high-confidence physical interactions among 3,006 stably-associated soluble human proteins. Most of the 622 putative protein complexes we report are linked to core biological processes, and encompass both candidate disease genes and unnanotated proteins to inform on mechanism. Strikingly, whereas larger multi-protein assemblies tend to be more extensively annotated and evolutionarily conserved, human protein complexes with 5 or fewer subunits are far more likely to be functionally un-annotated or restricted to vertebrates, suggesting more recent functional innovations.

Macromolecular complexes are essential to conserved biological processes, but their prevalence across animals is unclear. By combining extensive biochemical fractionation with quantitative mass spectrometry, we directly examined the composition of soluble multiprotein complexes among diverse metazoan models. Using an integrative approach, we then generated a draft conservation map consisting of >1 million putative high-confidence co-complex interactions for species with fully sequenced genomes that encompasses functional modules present broadly across all extant animals. Clustering revealed a spectrum of conservation, ranging from ancient Eukaryal assemblies likely serving cellular housekeeping roles for at least 1 billion years, ancestral complexes that have accrued contemporary components, and rarer metazoan innovations linked to multicellularity. We validated these projections by independent co-fractionation experiments in evolutionarily distant species, by affinity-purification and by functional analyses. The comprehensiveness, centrality and modularity of these reconstructed interactomes reflect their fundamental mechanistic significance and adaptive value to animal cell systems.

We provide a large-scale dataset on absolute protein and matching mRNA concentrations from the human medulloblastoma cell line Daoy. The correlation between mRNA and protein concentrations is significant and positive (Rs=0.46, R2=0.29, P-value<2e16), although non-linear.Out of ∼200 tested sequence features, sequence length, frequency and properties of amino acids, as well as translation initiation-related features are the strongest individual correlates of protein abundance when accounting for variation in mRNA concentration.When integrating mRNA expression data and all sequence features into a non-parametric regression model (Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines), we were able to explain up to 67% of the variation in protein concentrations. Half of the contributions were attributed to mRNA concentrations, the other half to sequence features relating to regulation of translation and protein degradation. The sequence features are primarily linked to the coding and 3′ untranslated region. To our knowledge, this is the most comprehensive predictive model of human protein concentrations achieved so far.

Molecular understanding of serological immunity to influenza has been confounded by the complexity of the polyclonal antibody response in humans. Here we used high-resolution proteomics analysis of immunoglobulin (referred to as Ig-seq) coupled with high-throughput sequencing of transcripts encoding B cell receptors (BCR-seq) to quantitatively determine the antibody repertoire at the individual clonotype level in the sera of young adults before and after vaccination with trivalent seasonal influenza vaccine. The serum repertoire comprised between 40 and 147 clonotypes that were specific to each of the three monovalent components of the trivalent influenza vaccine, with boosted pre-existing clonotypes accounting for ~60% of the response. An unexpectedly high fraction of serum antibodies recognized both the H1 and H3 monovalent vaccines. Recombinant versions of these H1 + H3 cross-reactive antibodies showed broad binding to hemagglutinins (HAs) from previously circulating virus strains; several of these antibodies, which were prevalent in the serum of multiple donors, recognized the same conserved epitope in the HA head domain. Although the HA-head-specific H1 + H3 antibodies did not show neutralization activity in vitro, they protected mice against infection with the H1N1 and H3N2 virus strains when administered before or after challenge. Collectively, our data reveal unanticipated insights regarding the serological response to influenza vaccination and raise questions about the added benefits of using a quadrivalent vaccine instead of a trivalent vaccine.

Most vaccines confer protection via the elicitation of serum antibodies, yet more than 100 y after the discovery of antibodies, the molecular composition of the human serum antibody repertoire to an antigen remains unknown. Using high-resolution liquid chromatography tandem MS proteomic analyses of serum antibodies coupled with next-generation sequencing of the V gene repertoire in peripheral B cells, we have delineated the human serum IgG and B-cell receptor repertoires following tetanus toxoid (TT) booster vaccination. We show that the TT + serum IgG repertoire comprises ∼100 antibody clonotypes, with three clonotypes accounting for >40% of the response. All 13 recombinant IgGs examined bound to vaccine antigen with K d ∼ 10 −8 -10 −10 M. Five of 13 IgGs recognized the same linear epitope on TT, occluding the binding site used by the toxin for cell entry, suggesting a possible explanation for the mechanism of protection conferred by the vaccine. Importantly, only a small fraction (<5%) of peripheral blood plasmablast clonotypes (CD3 − CD14 − CD19 + CD27 ++ CD38 ++ CD20 − TT + ) at the peak of the response (day 7), and an even smaller fraction of memory B cells, were found to encode antibodies that could be detected in the serological memory response 9 mo postvaccination. This suggests that only a small fraction of responding peripheral B cells give rise to the bone marrow long-lived plasma cells responsible for the production of biologically relevant amounts of vaccine-specific antibodies (near or above the K d ). Collectively, our results reveal the nature and dynamics of the serological response to vaccination with direct implications for vaccine design and evaluation.B-cell repertoire | proteomics M ost approved vaccines confer protection against infectious diseases by the induction of long-lived plasma cells (LLPCs), which secrete antibodies that serve to neutralize and opsonize the pathogen for many years or decades (1-3). Additionally, the generation of memory B cells (mBCs) provides both a mechanism for the rapid synthesis of affinity matured, antigenspecific antibodies following rechallenge and a means to diversify the humoral immune response to confer protection against rapidly evolving viruses or bacteria (4). Although some vaccines elicit antibody titers that remain virtually constant for many decades, for others, including the tetanus toxoid (TT) vaccine, antibody titers wane monotonically over time (5). Booster immunization triggers the rapid expansion and differentiation of cognate B cells, generating antigen-specific plasmablasts that peak in concentration in peripheral blood after 6-7 d and subsequently rapidly decline to nearly undetectable levels (6, 7). Some, but not all, of these peak-wave plasmablasts migrate to specialized niches overwhelmingly located in the bone marrow (BM) and survive as LLPCs (8), which constitute the major source of all classes of Ig in the serum (9).The establishment of serological memory following either primary or booster vaccination is not understood well (10-14)...