systemic-bacterial-infection-immune-defense-phenotypes-drosophila

Systemic Bacterial Infection and Immune Defense Phenotypes in <em>Drosophila Melanogaster</em>

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is one of the premier model organisms for studying the function and evolution of immune defense. Many aspects of ...

Cornell University

Aberrant glycosylation of proteins and lipids has been implicated in many human diseases, thus prompting the need for reliable analytical methods that permit dependable quantification of glycans originating from biological specimens. MS of permethylated glycans is currently employed to monitor disease-related aberrant glycosylation of proteins and lipids. However, enhancing the sensitivity of this type of analysis is still needed. Here, analysis of permethylated glycans at enhanced sensitivity is attained through miniaturized solid-phase permethylation and online solid-phase purification. Solid-phase permethylation method was miniaturized by reducing the amount of sodium hydroxide beads (one-third the original amount) packed in microspin columns. The efficiency of glycan permethylation was not adversely affected by this reduction. Online solid-phase purification of permethylated N-glycans derived from model glycoproteins, such as fetuin, α-1 acid glycoprotein and ribonuclease B, offered more sensitive and reproducible results than offline liquid-liquid and solid-phase extractions. Online solid-phase purification method described here permitted a 75% increase in signal intensities of permethylated glycans relative to offline purification methods. This is mainly due to the minimized sample handling associated with an online cleaning procedure. The efficiency and utility of online solid-phase purification was also demonstrated here for N-glycans derived from human blood serum. Online solid-phase purification permitted the detection of 73 N-glycan structures, while only 63 glycan structures were detected in the case of samples purified through liquid-liquid extraction. The intensities of the 63 structures that were detected in both cases were 75% higher for samples that were purified through the online method.

Enhanced sensitivity of LC-MS analysis of permethylated N-glycans through online purification.

Because routine preparation of glycan samples involves multiple reaction and cleaning steps at which sample loss occurs, glycan analysis is typically performed using large tissue samples. This type of analysis yields no detailed molecular spatial information and requires special care to maintain proper storage and shipping conditions. We describe here a new glycan sample preparation protocol using minimized sample preparation steps and optimized procedures. Tissue sections and spotted samples first undergo on-surface enzymatic digestion to release N-glycans. The released glycans are then reduced and permethylated prior to online purification and LC-electrospray ionization (ESI)-MS analysis. The efficiency of this protocol was initially evaluated using model glycoproteins and human blood serum (HBS) spotted on glass or Teflon slides. The new protocol permitted the detection of permethylated N-glycans derived from 10 ng RNase B. On the other hand, 66 N-glycans were identified when injecting the equivalent of permethylated glycans derived from a 0.1-μL aliquot of HBS. On-tissue enzymatic digestion of nude mouse brain tissue permitted the detection of 43 N-glycans. The relative peak areas of these 43 glycans were comparable to those from a C57BL/6 mouse reported by the Consortium for Functional Glycomics (CFG). However, the sample size analyzed in the protocol described here was substantially smaller than for the routine method (submicrogram vs mg). The on-tissue N-glycan profiling method permits high sensitivity and reproducibility and can be widely applied to assess the spatial distribution of glycans associated with tissue sections, and may be correlated with immunoflourescence imaging when adjacent tissue sections are analyzed.

Glycomic profiling of tissue sections by LC-MS.

The route of infection can profoundly affect both the progression and outcome of disease. We investigated differences in Drosophila melanogaster defense against infection after bacterial inoculation into two sites--the abdomen and the thorax. Thorax inoculation results in increased bacterial proliferation and causes high mortality within the first few days of infection. In contrast, abdomen inoculation results in minimal mortality and lower bacterial loads than thorax inoculation. Inoculation into either site causes systemic infection. Differences in mortality and bacterial load are due to injury of the thorax and can be recapitulated by abdominal inoculation coupled with aseptic wounding of the thorax. This altered resistance appears to be independent of classical immune pathways and opens new avenues of research on the role of injury during defense against infection.

Sarah Khalil

Department of Entomology

Cornell University

Systemic Bacterial Infection and Immune Defense Phenotypes in Drosophila Melanogaster

Sarah Khalil

.css-o250i3{font-size:18px;font-family:Open Sans,sans-serif;line-height:21.6px;}Department of Entomology

Cornell University

Systemic Bacterial Infection and Immune Defense Phenotypes in Drosophila Melanogaster

Department of Entomology