P2Y receptors are a class of G protein-coupled receptors activated primarily by ATP, UTP, and UDP. Five mammalian P2Y receptors have been cloned so far including P2Y1, P2Y2, P2Y4, P2Y6, and P2Y11. P2Y1, P2Y2, and P2Y6 couple to the activation of phospholipase C, whereas P2Y4 and P2Y11 couple to the activation of both phospholipase C and the adenylyl cyclase pathways. Additional ADP receptors linked to G␣ i have been described but have not yet been cloned. SP1999 is an orphan G protein-coupled receptor, which is highly expressed in brain, spinal cord, and blood platelets. In the present study, we demonstrate that SP1999 is a G␣ icoupled receptor that is potently activated by ADP. In an effort to identify ligands for SP1999, fractionated rat spinal cord extracts were assayed for Ca 2؉ mobilization activity against Chinese hamster ovary cells transiently transfected with SP1999 and chimeric G␣ subunits (G␣ q/i ). A substance that selectively activated SP1999-transfected cells was identified and purified through a series of chromatographic steps. Mass spectral analysis of the purified material definitively identified it as ADP. ADP was subsequently shown to inhibit forskolin-stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity through selective activation of SP1999 with an EC 50 of 60 nM. Other nucleotides were able to activate SP1999 with a rank order of potency 2-MeS-ATP ‫؍‬ 2-MeS-ADP > ADP ‫؍‬ adenosine 5-O-2-(thio-)diphosphate > 2-Cl-ATP > adenosine 5-O-(thiotriphosphate). Thus, SP1999 is a novel, G␣ i -linked receptor for ADP.Purine and pyrimidine nucleotides are known to modulate a variety of physiological functions by interaction with two types of cell surface receptors: P2X and P2Y receptors (1, 2). P2X receptors are ligand-gated ion-channels, whereas P2Y receptors are G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs).

The higher order structure of protein therapeutics can be interrogated with hydrogen/deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS). HDX-MS is now a widely used tool in the structural characterization of protein therapeutics. In this article, HDX-MS based workflows designed for both protein therapeutic discovery and development processes are presented, focusing on the specific applications of epitope mapping for protein/drug interactions and biopharmaceutical comparability studies. Future trends in the application of HDX-MS to protein therapeutics characterization are also described.

No abstract

Key Points• HERC4 is the first identified ubiquitin ligase that mediates c-Maf ubiquitination and degradation.• HERC4 suppresses MM cell proliferation and delays MM tumor growth.The transcription factor c-Maf is extensively involved in the pathophysiology of multiple myeloma (MM), a fatal malignancy of plasma cells. In the present study, affinity chromatography and mass spectrometry were used to identify c-Maf ubiquitination-associated proteins, from which the E3 ligase HERC4 was found to interact with c-Maf and catalyzed its polyubiquitination and subsequent proteasome-mediated degradation. HERC4 mediated polyubiquitination at K85 and K297 in c-Maf, and this polyubiquitination could be prevented by the isopeptidase USP5. Further analysis on the NCI-60 cell line collection revealed that RPMI 8226, a MM-derived cell line, expressed the lowest level of HERC4. Primary bone marrow analysis revealed HERC4 expression was high in normal bone marrow, but was steadily decreased during myelomagenesis. These findings suggested HERC4 played an important role in MM progression. Moreover, ectopic HERC4 expression decreased MM proliferation in vitro, and delayed xenograft tumor growth in vivo. Therefore, modulation of c-Maf ubiquitination by targeting HERC4 may represent a new therapeutic modality for MM. (Blood. 2016;127(13):1676-1686