TCellXTalk facilitates the detection of co-modified peptides for the study of protein post-translational modification cross-talk in T cells

Abstract

Motivation: Protein function is regulated by post-translational modifications (PTMs) that may act individually or interact with others in a phenomenon termed PTM cross-talk. Multiple databases have been dedicated to PTMs, including recent initiatives oriented towards the in silico prediction of PTM interactions. The study of PTM cross-talk ultimately requires experimental evidence about whether certain PTMs coexist in a single protein molecule. However, available resources do not assist researchers in the experimental detection of co-modified peptides.

Results: Herein, we present TCellXTalk, a comprehensive database of phosphorylation, ubiquitination and acetylation sites in human T cells that supports the experimental detection of co-modified peptides using targeted or directed mass spectrometry. We demonstrate the efficacy of TCellXTalk and the strategy presented here in a proof of concept experiment that enabled the identification and quantification of 15 co-modified (phosphorylated and ubiquitinated) peptides from CD3 proteins of the T-cell receptor complex. To our knowledge, these are the first co-modified peptide sequences described in this widely studied cell type. Furthermore, quantitative data showed distinct dynamics for co-modified peptides upon T cell activation, demonstrating differential regulation of co-occurring PTMs in this biological context. Overall, TCellXTalk facilitates the experimental detection of co-modified peptides in human T cells and puts forward a novel and generic strategy for the study of PTM cross-talk.

Availability and implementation: TCellXTalk is available at https://www.tcellxtalk.org. Source Code is available at https://bitbucket.org/lp-csic-uab/tcellxtalk.

Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.