Profiling Cellular Substrates of Lysine Acetyltransferases GCN5 and p300 with Orthogonal Labeling and Click Chemistry

Abstract

p300 and GCN5 are two representative lysine acetyltransferases (KATs) in mammalian cells. It was recently reported that they possess multiple acyltransferase activities including acetylation, propionylation, and butyrylation of the ε-amino group of lysine residues of histones and non-histone protein substrates. Although thousands of acetylated substrates and acetylation sites have been identified by mass spectrometry-based proteomic screening, our knowledge about the causative connections between individual KAT members and their corresponding sub-acylomes remain very limited. Herein, we applied 3-azidopropionyl CoA (3AZ-CoA) as a bioorthogonal surrogate of acetyl-, propionyl- and butyryl-CoA for KAT substrate identification. We successfully attached the azide as a chemical warhead to cellular substrates of wild-type p300 and engineered GCN5. The substrates were subsequently labeled with biotin tag through the copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC). Following protein enrichment on streptavidin-coated resin, we conducted LC-MS/MS studies from which more than four hundred proteins were identified as GCN5 or p300 substrate candidates. These proteins are either p300- or GCN5-unique or shared by the two KATs and are extensively involved in various biological events including gene expression, cell cycle, and cellular metabolism. We also experimentally validated two novel substrates of GCN5, that is, IQGAP1 and SMC1. These results demonstrate extensive engagement of GCN5 and p300 in cellular pathways and provide new insights into understanding their functions in specific biological processes.