Skip to content

Targeted proteomics and absolute protein quantification for the construction of a stoichiometric host-pathogen surface density model.

Type Information
Nr 59 (Research article)
Authors Sjöholm, Kristoffer; Kilsgård, Ola; Teleman, Johan; Happonen, Lotta; Malmström, Lars; Malmström, Johan
Title Targeted proteomics and absolute protein quantification for the construction of a stoichiometric host-pathogen surface density model.
Journal Mol Cell Proteomics (2017) 16(4 suppl 1) S29-S41
DOI 10.1074/mcp.M116.063966
Citations 27 citations (journal impact: 5.91)
Abstract Sepsis is a systemic immune response responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality. Molecular modelling of host-pathogen interactions in the disease state represents a promising strategy to define molecular events of importance for the transition from superficial to invasive infectious diseases. Here we used the gram-positive bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes as a model system to establish a mass spectrometry based workflow for the construction of a stoichiometric surface density model between the S. pyogenes surface the surface virulence factor M-protein and adhered human blood plasma proteins. The workflow relies on stable isotope labelled reference peptides and selected reaction monitoring mass spectrometry analysis of a wild-type strain and an M-protein deficient mutant strain to generate absolutely quantified protein stoichiometry ratios between S. pyogenes and interacting plasma proteins. The stoichiometry ratios in combination with a novel targeted mass spectrometry method to measure cell numbers enabled the construction of a stoichiometric surface density model using protein structures available from the protein data bank. The model outlines the topology and density of the host-pathogen protein interaction network on the S. pyogenes bacterial surface revealing a dense and highly organized protein interaction network. Removal of the M-protein from S. pyogenes introduces a drastic change in the network topology validated by electron microscopy. We propose that the stoichiometric surface density model of S. pyogenes in human blood plasma represents a scalable framework that can continuously be refined with the emergence of new results. Future integration of new results will improve the understanding of protein-protein interactions and their importance for bacterial virulence. Furthermore we anticipate that the general properties of the developed workflow will facilitate the production of stoichiometric surface density models for other types of host-pathogen interactions.