Purification of Ubiquitinated p53 Proteins from Mammalian Cells

Summary

The protocol describes a step-by-step method to purify ubiquitinated proteins from mammalian cells using the p53 tumor suppressor protein as an example. Ubiquitinated p53 proteins were purified from cells under stringent nondenaturing and denaturing conditions.

Abstract

Ubiquitination is a type of posttranslational modification that regulates not only the stability but also the localization and function of a substrate protein. The ubiquitination process occurs intracellularly in eukaryotes and regulates almost all basic cellular biological processes. Purification of ubiquitinated proteins aids the investigation of the role of ubiquitination in controlling the function of substrate proteins. Here, a step-by-step procedure to purify ubiquitinated proteins in mammalian cells is described with the p53 tumor suppressor protein as an example. Ubiquitinated p53 proteins were purified under stringent nondenaturing and denaturing conditions. Total cellular Flag-tagged p53 protein was purified with anti-Flag antibody-conjugated agarose under nondenaturing conditions. Alternatively, total cellular His-tagged ubiquitinated protein was purified using nickel-charged resin under denaturing conditions. Ubiquitinated p53 proteins in the eluates were successfully detected with specific antibodies. Using this procedure, the ubiquitinated forms of a given protein can be efficiently purified from mammalian cells, facilitating studies on the roles of ubiquitination in regulating protein function.

Introduction

Ubiquitin is an evolutionarily conserved protein of 76 amino acids^1,2,3. Ubiquitin covalently binds lysine residues on target proteins through cascades involving activating (E1), conjugating (E2), and ligase (E3) enzymes. Ubiquitin is first activated by the E1 enzyme and is then transferred to the E2 conjugating enzymes. Subsequently, E3 ubiquitin ligases interact with both ubiquitin-loaded E2 enzymes and substrate proteins and mediate the formation of an isopeptide bond between the C-terminal of ubiquitin and a lysine residue in the substrate^1,

Protocol

NOTE: H1299 cells were kindly provided by the Stem Cell Bank, Chinese Academy of Sciences and were proven to be negative for mycoplasma contamination.

1. Cell culture

1. For the initial culture, place 1 x 10⁶ cells of human lung adenocarcinoma cell line, H1299 in a 10 cm Petri dish with 10-12 mL of RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS), 1% glutamine additive, 1% sodium pyruvate, and antibiotics (100 U/mL penicillin and 100 µg/mL streptomycin). Maintain the cells at 37 °C in a humidified incubator with 5% CO₂. Split the cells every 2-3 days depending upon whe....

Results

The schematic diagram shows the Flag-tagged p53 (Flag-p53) and His/HA double-tagged ubiquitin (HH-Ub) proteins (Figure 1A). The procedures utilized to purify ubiquitinated proteins are summarized in Figure 1B. Poly-His-tagged ubiquitin can be ligated to target proteins in mammalian cells. Ubiquitinated proteins can be purified with Flag/M2 beads under nondenaturing conditions or by immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC) under denaturing conditions .......

Discussion

Ubiquitination plays a critical role in almost all physiological and pathological cellular processes². In recent years, great progress has been made in understanding the molecular role of ubiquitin in signaling pathways and how changes in the ubiquitin system lead to different human diseases². The purification of ubiquitinated proteins contributes to providing insight into the exact roles of ubiquitination in these processes. The mixtures of ubiquitin-conjugated proteins ca.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
β-mercaptoethanol	Sangon Biotech	M6250
Amersham ECL Mouse IgG, HRP-linked whole Ab (from sheep)	GE healthcare	NA931	Secondary antibdoy
Amersham ECL Rat IgG, HRP-linked whole Ab (from donkey)	GE healthcare	NA935	Secondary antibdoy
Anti-Flag M2 Affinity Gel	Sigma-Aldrich	A2220	FLAG/M2 beads
Anti-GFP monocolonal antibody	Santa cruz	sc-9996	Primary antibody
Anti-HA High Affinity	Roche	11867423001	Primary antibody
Anti-Mdm2 monocolonal antibody (SMP14)	Santa cruz	sc-965	Primary antibody
Anti-p53 monocolonal antibody (DO-1)	Santa cruz	sc-126	Primary antibody
EDTA	Sigma-Alddich	E5134	solvent
Fetal Bovine Serum	VivaCell	C04001-500	FBS
FLAG Peptide	Sigma-Alddich	F3290	Prepare elution buffer
GlutaMAX	Gibco	35050-061	supplement
Guanidine-HCI	Sangon Biotech	A100287-0500	solvent
H1299	Stem Cell Bank, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Image Lab	Bio-rad		software
Immidazole	Sangon Biotech	A500529-0100	solvent
Immobilon Western Chemiluminescent HRP Substrate	Millipore	WBKLS0500
Lipofectamine 2000 reagents	Invitrogen	11668019	Transfection reagent
MG132	MedChemExpress	HY-13259	Proteasome inhibitor
Na2HPO4	Sangon Biotech	A501727-0500	solvent
NaCl	Sangon Biotech	A610476-0005	solvent
NaF	Sigma-Alddich	201154	solvent
NaH2PO4	Sangon Biotech	A501726-0500	solvent
Ni-NTA Agarose	QIAGEN	30230	nickel-charged resin
Nitrocellulose Blotting membrane	GE healthcare	10600002	0.45 µm pore size
Opti-MEM reduced serum medium	Gibco	31985-070	Transfection medium
PBS	Corning	21-040-cv
Penicillin-Streptomycin Solution	Sangon Biotech	E607011-0100	antibiotic
Protease inhibitor cocktail	Sigma-Aldrich	P8340
RPMI 1640	Biological Industries	01-100-1ACS	medium
Sarkosyl	Sigma-Alddich	L5777	solvent
SDS Loading Buffer	Beyotime	P0015L
Sodium Pyruvate	Gibco	11360-070	supplement
Tris-base	Sangon Biotech	A501492-0005	solvent
Tris-HCI	Sangon Biotech	A610103-0250	solvent
Triton X-100	Sangon Biotech	A110694-0500	reagent
Tween-20	Sangon Biotech	A100777-0500	supplement
Ultra High Sensitive Chemiluminescence Imaging System	Bio-rad		ChemiDoc XRS+
Urea	Sangon Biotech	A510907-0500	solvent