With 2129 proteins
still classified by the Human Proteome Organisation
Human Proteome Project (HPP) as “missing” without compelling
evidence of protein existence (PE) in humans, we hypothesized that
in-depth proteomic characterization of tissues that are technically
challenging to access and extract would yield evidence for tissue-specific
missing proteins. Paradoxically, although the skeleton is the most
massive tissue system in humans, as one of the poorest characterized
by proteomics, bone falls under the HPP umbrella term as a “rare
tissue”. Therefore, we aimed to optimize mineralized tissue
protein extraction methodology and workflows for proteomic and data
analyses of small quantities of healthy young adult human alveolar
bone. Osteoid was solubilized by GuHCl extraction, with hydroxyapatite-bound
proteins then released by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid demineralization.
A subsequent GuHCl solubilization extraction was followed by solid-phase
digestion of the remaining insoluble cross-linked protein using trypsin
and then 6 M urea dissolution incorporating LysC digestion. Bone extracts
were digested in parallel using trypsin, LysargiNase, AspN, or GluC
prior to liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis.
Terminal Amine Isotopic Labeling of Substrates was used to purify
semitryptic peptides, identifying natural and proteolytic-cleaved
neo N-termini of bone proteins. Our strategy enabled complete solubilization
of the organic bone matrix leading to extensive categorization of
bone proteins in different bone matrix extracts, and hence matrix
compartments, for the first time. Moreover, this led to the high confidence
identification of pannexin-3, a “missing protein”, found
only in the insoluble collagenous matrix and revealed for the first
time by trypsin solid-phase digestion. We also found a singleton proteotypic
peptide of another missing protein, meiosis inhibitor protein 1. We
also identified 17 proteins classified in neXtprot as PE1 based on
evidence other than from MS, termed non-MS PE1 proteins, including
≥9-mer proteotypic peptides of four proteins.