Simultaneous Detection of Protein Phosphorylation and Acetylation by High-Resolution NMR Spectroscopy

Post-translational protein modifications (PTMs) such as phosphorylation and acetylation regulate a large number of eukaryotic signaling processes. In most instances, it is the combination of different PTMs that “encode” the biological outcome of these covalent amendments in a highly dynamic and cell-state-specific manner. Most research tools fail to detect different PTMs in a single experiment and are unable to directly observe dynamic PTM states in complex environments such as cell extracts or intact cells. Here we describe in situ observations of phosphorylation and acetylation reactions by high-resolution liquid-state NMR spectroscopy. We delineate the NMR characteristics of progressive lysine acetylation and provide in vitro examples of joint phosphorylation and acetylation events and how they can be deciphered on a residue-specific basis and in a time-resolved and quantitative manner. Finally, we extend our NMR investigations to cellular phosphorylation and acetylation events in human cell extracts and demonstrate the unique ability of NMR spectroscopy to simultaneously report the establishment of these PTMs by endogenous cellular enzymes.