Activity-based protein profiling of ammonia monooxygenase in Nitrosomonas europaea.

ABSTRACT

Nitrosomonas europaea is an aerobic nitrifying bacterium that oxidizes ammonia (NH₃) to nitrite (NO₂^-) through the sequential activities of ammonia monooxygenase (AMO) and hydroxylamine dehydrogenase (HAO). Many alkynes are mechanism-based inactivators of AMO and here we describe an activity-based protein profiling method for this enzyme using 1,7-octadiyne (17OD) as a probe. Inactivation of NH₄⁺-dependent O₂ uptake by N. europaea by 17OD was time- and concentration-dependent. The effects of 17OD were specific for ammonia-oxidizing activity and de novo protein synthesis was required to reestablish this activity after cells were exposed to 17OD. Cells were reacted with AlexaFluor 647-azide using a copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) (Click) reaction, solubilized and analyzed by SDS-PAGE and IR scanning. A fluorescent 28 kDa polypeptide was observed for cells previously exposed to 17OD, but not for cells treated with either allylthiourea or acetylene prior to exposure to 17OD, or for cells not previously exposed to 17OD. The fluorescent polypeptide was membrane-associated and aggregated when heated with β-mercaptoethanol and SDS. The fluorescent polypeptide was also detected in cells pretreated with other diynes, but not in cells pretreated with structural homologs containing a single ethynyl functional group. The membrane fraction from 17OD-treated cells was conjugated with biotin-azide and solubilized in SDS. Streptavidin affinity-purified polypeptides were on-bead trypsin-digested and amino acid sequences of the peptide fragments were determined by LC-MS analysis. Peptide fragments from AmoA were the predominant peptides detected in 17OD-treated samples. In gel digestion and MALDI-TOF/TOF analysis also confirmed the fluorescent 28 kDa polypeptide was AmoA.