Proteomic analysis of macrophages: a new way to identify novel cell-surface antigens

J Immunol Methods. 2007 Apr 10;321(1-2):80-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jim.2007.01.009. Epub 2007 Jan 30.

Abstract

Macrophages are involved in many important biological processes and membrane proteins are the key effector molecules for their function. However, membrane proteins are difficult to analyze by 2-DE based methods because of their intrinsic tendency to self-aggregate during the first dimension separation (IEF). To circumvent this, we combined one-dimensional SDS-PAGE with capillary liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Using this technique, we identified 458 GO annotated membrane proteins with extremely high confidence, including most known markers of peritoneal macrophages (e.g., CD11b, F4/80, CD14, CD18, CD86, CD44, CD16 and Toll-like receptor). Thirteen other CD antigens (CD243, CD98, CD107a, CD107b, CD36, CD97, CD205, CD206, CD180, CD191, CD300, CD45and CD29), and 18 Ras-related small GTPases were also identified. In addition to those known macrophage membrane proteins, a significant number of novel proteins have also been identified. This research not only provides a technique to study membrane proteins, but also a valuable dataset of macrophage antigens, thus providing better understanding of the functional mechanisms of macrophages in many biological processes.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antigens, CD / analysis
  • Antigens, Surface / analysis*
  • Capillary Electrochromatography / methods
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / methods
  • Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel / methods
  • Female
  • Flow Cytometry
  • Macrophages, Peritoneal / immunology*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Monomeric GTP-Binding Proteins / analysis
  • Proteomics / methods*
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry / methods

Substances

  • Antigens, CD
  • Antigens, Surface
  • Monomeric GTP-Binding Proteins