Biology subjects

Huttlin, E. L.

Publications and source records attributed to Huttlin, E. L..

7 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

LAMPrEY: a Python-based automated quality control tool for large-scale proteomics datasets

Over the past years, proteomics has moved increasingly towards the analysis of large cohorts of biological specimens. This has been made possible by significant improvements in mass spectrometry technology, chromatographic separation methods, and improved data acquisition strategies. These technological advances now routinely enable experiments that yield vast datasets that substantially outstrip the capacity of existing proteomics data analysis approaches. Processing such large datasets requires purpose-built, quality control tools designed to organize and analyze the data while recording all processing parameters for reproducibility. To address this need, we developed an open-source, Python-based software platform, Large-scale Automated Multi-level Proteomics Evaluation by Python (LAMPrEY), a comprehensive quality-control pipeline for quantitative proteomics analyses of large cohorts of samples. LAMPrEY features GUI-based file submission, automated processing with MaxQuant and RawTools, an interactive analytics dashboard, and an application programming interface (API) for programmatic usage that collectively enable rapid, reproducible analysis and interpretation of proteomics data. We demonstrate the longitudinal monitoring and analytical capabilities of LAMPrEY using TMT11 quantitative proteomics data generated from 910 Enterococcus faecium isolates collected from bloodstream infection patients. LAMPrEY is an open-source software that can be accessed at www.lewisresearchgroup.org/software.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2026

A unified photosensitizer platform for in situ DNA, RNA, and protein directed proximity labeling

Cells depend on the spatial organization of proteins, RNA, and DNA into discrete subcellular compartments. Previous methods have largely centered on measuring spatial organization based on only one of these biomolecular classes at a time. Here, we demonstrate that POCA photocatalytic proximity labeling can serve as a unified photosensitizer-based platform for profiling the proximal proteomes of protein, RNA, and DNA targets within a single experimental framework. We show that POCA can harness standard immunofluorescence or in situ hybridization workflows to specifically target organic fluorophore photosensitizers to intracellular targets for proximity labeling in fixed cells. POCA-targeted proximity labeling requires minimal cellular input and does not require genetic engineering. Additionally, POCA photosensitizers are selected to also be fluorescent, enabling direct confirmation of on-target localization by imaging prior to proteomic analysis. To demonstrate broad utility, we apply POCA across multiple molecular targets spanning protein, RNA, and genomic DNA, including components of the nuclear pore complex, nucleolus, nuclear speckles, telomeres, and pericentromeric heterochromatin. By anchoring proximity labeling to both a protein and an RNA within the same nuclear compartment, we resolve shared and distinct proximal proteomes from orthogonal molecular perspectives.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2026

Survey of the human proteostasis network: the ubiquitin-proteasome system

Modification by ubiquitination governs the half-lives of thousands of proteins that are fated for elimination by either the proteasome or autophagy pathways, depending on the intricate architectures of ubiquitin modification. This system mediates quality control for individual proteins, protein complexes, and organelles, as well as myriad purely regulatory functions. Here we provide a comprehensive survey of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS), the scope of which is at present poorly defined. The UPS, with the inclusion of pathways involving ubiquitin-like modifiers, comprises in our estimate over 1430 distinct proteins in humans, a vast set of activities whose collective impact on the biology of the cell is pervasive. The UPS is an integral component of the proteostasis network (PN), the remainder of which we have also surveyed in recent studies. With the addition of molecular chaperones, proteins from autophagy-lysosome pathway, and related activities, the PN includes in total over 3150 components by our estimates. Comprehensive and systematic definition of these pathways should support a range of ongoing investigations in the areas of genomics, proteomics, biochemistry, cell biology, and disease research.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2020

Altered glutamine metabolism of cultured fibroblasts predicts severity of cardiac dysfunction in the dilated cardiomyopathy with ataxia syndrome (DCMA), a mitochondrial cardiomyopathy

Dilated cardiomyopathy with ataxia (DCMA) syndrome is a rare mitochondrial disorder caused by mutations in the poorly understood DNAJC19 gene. The clinical presentation of DCMA is very diverse with symptoms ranging from mild cardiac dysfunction to intractable heart failure leading to death in early childhood. Although several lines of evidence indicate that DCMA symptoms are linked to mitochondrial function, the molecular underpinnings of this disease are unclear and there is no way to predict which patients are at risk for developing life-threatening symptoms. To address this we developed a metabolic flux assay for assessing the metabolic function of mitochondria in dermal fibroblasts derived from DCMA patients. Using this approach we discovered that fibroblasts from patients with DCMA showed elevated glutamine uptake, increased glutamate and ammonium secretion, and elevated lactate production when compared to controls. Moreover, the magnitude of these metabolic perturbations was closely correlated with patient cardiac dysfunction. This clinical/metabolic correlation was confirmed in a second blinded cohort of DCMA fibroblasts. Moreover, our metabolic flux diagnostic strategy correctly differentiated severe from mild DCMA cases with only one incorrect patient classification (positive predictive value 1.0 and negative predictive value 0.83). These findings suggest that glutamine catabolism is abnormal in DCMA and may serve as an early biomarker for predicting clinical progression. One Sentence SummaryAlterations in glutamine and lactate metabolism in patient-derived dermal fibroblasts are associated with the severity of cardiomyopathy in DCMA.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Mapping cell structure across scales by fusing protein images and interactions

ABSTRACTThe eukaryotic cell is a multi-scale structure with modular organization across at least four orders of magnitude1,2. Two central approaches for mapping this structure – protein fluorescent imaging and protein biophysical association – each generate extensive datasets but of distinct qualities and resolutions that are typically treated separately3,4. Here, we integrate immunofluorescent images in the Human Protein Atlas5 with ongoing affinity purification experiments from the BioPlex resource6 to create a unified hierarchical map of eukaryotic cell architecture. Integration involves configuring each approach to produce a general measure of protein distance, then calibrating the two measures using machine learning. The evolving map, called the Multi-Scale Integrated Cell (MuSIC 1.0), currently resolves 69 subcellular systems of which approximately half are undocumented. Based on these findings we perform 134 additional affinity purifications, validating close subunit associations for the majority of systems. The map elucidates roles for poorly characterized proteins, such as the appearance of FAM120C in chromatin; identifies new protein assemblies in ribosomal biogenesis, RNA splicing, nuclear speckles, and ion transport; and reveals crosstalk between cytoplasmic and mitochondrial ribosomal proteins. By integration across scales, MuSIC substantially increases the mapping resolution obtained from imaging while giving protein interactions a spatial dimension, paving the way to incorporate many molecular data types in proteome-wide maps of cells.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.View Full Text

systems biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Dual Proteome-scale Networks Reveal Cell-specific Remodeling of the Human Interactome

Thousands of interactions assemble proteins into modules that impart spatial and functional organization to the cellular proteome. Through affinity-purification mass spectrometry, we have created two proteome-scale, cell-line-specific interaction networks. The first, BioPlex 3.0, results from affinity purification of 10,128 human proteins - half the proteome - in 293T cells and includes 118,162 interactions among 14,586 proteins; the second results from 5,522 immunoprecipitations in HCT116 cells. These networks model the interactome at unprecedented scale, encoding protein function, localization, and complex membership. Their comparison validates thousands of interactions and reveals extensive customization of each network. While shared interactions reside in core complexes and involve essential proteins, cell-specific interactions bridge conserved complexes, likely rewiring each cells interactome. Interactions are gained and lost in tandem among proteins of shared function as the proteome remodels to produce each cells phenotype. Viewable interactively online through BioPlexExplorer, these networks define principles of proteome organization and enable unknown protein characterization.

systems biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Full-featured, real-time database searching platform enables fast and accurate multiplexed quantitative proteomics.

Multiplexed quantitative analyses of complex proteomes enable deep biological insight. While a multitude of workflows have been developed for multiplexed analyses, the most quantitatively accurate method (SPS-MS3) suffers from long acquisition duty cycles. We built a new, real-time database search (RTS) platform, Orbiter, to combat the SPS-MS3 methods longer duty cycles. RTS with Orbiter enables the elimination of SPS-MS3 scans if no peptide matches to a given spectrum. With Orbiters online proteomic analytical pipeline, which includes RTS and false discovery rate analysis, it was possible to process a single spectrum database search in less than 10 milliseconds. The result is a fast, functional means to identify peptide spectral matches using Comet, filter these matches, and more efficiently quantify proteins of interest. Importantly, the use of Comet for peptide spectral matching allowed for a fully featured search, including analysis of post-translational modifications, with well-known and extensively validated scoring. These data could then be used to trigger subsequent scans in an adaptive and flexible manner. In this work we tested the utility of this adaptive data acquisition platform to improve the efficiency and accuracy of multiplexed quantitative experiments. We found that RTS enabled a 2-fold increase in mass spectrometric data acquisition efficiency. Orbiters RTS was able to quantify more than 8000 proteins across 10 proteomes in half the time of an SPS-MS3 analysis (18 hours for RTS, 36 hours for SPS-MS3).

cell biology↗