Biology subjects

Kerr, E. D.

Publications and source records attributed to Kerr, E. D..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2018

Proteomics reveals profound metabolic changes in the alcohol use disorder brain

Changes in brain metabolism are a hallmark of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). Determining how AUD changes the brain proteome is critical for understanding the effects of alcohol consumption on biochemical processes in the brain. We used data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry proteomics to study differences in the abundance of proteins associated with AUD in pre-frontal lobe and motor cortex from autopsy brain. AUD had a substantial effect on the overall brain proteome exceeding the inherent differences between brain regions. Proteins associated with glycolysis, trafficking, the cytoskeleton, and excitotoxicity were altered in abundance in AUD. We observed extensive changes in the abundance of key metabolic enzymes, consistent with a switch from glucose to acetate utilization in the AUD brain. We propose that metabolic adaptations allowing efficient acetate utilization contribute to ethanol dependence in AUD.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2018

The intrinsic and regulated proteomes of barley seeds in response to fungal infection

Barley is an important cereal grain used for beer brewing, animal feed, and human food consumption. Fungal disease can impact barley production, as it causes substantial yield loss and lowers seed quality. We used sequential window acquisition of all theoretical ions mass spectrometry (SWATH-MS) to measure and quantify the relative abundance of proteins within seeds of different barley varieties under various fungal pathogen burdens. Fungal burden in the leaves and stems of barley resulted in changes to the seed proteome. However, these changes were minimal and showed substantial variation among barley samples infected with different pathogens. The limited effect of intrinsic disease resistance on the seed proteome is consistent with the main mediators of disease resistance being present in the leaves and stems of the plant. The seeds of barley varieties accredited for use as malt had higher levels of proteins associated with starch synthesis and beer quality. The proteomic workflows developed and implemented here have potential application in quality control, breeding and processing of barley, and other agricultural products.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2018

Post-translational modifications drive protein stability to control the dynamic beer brewing proteome

Mashing is a key step in beer brewing in which starch and proteins are solubilized from malted barley in a hot water extraction and digested to oligomaltose and free amino nitrogen. We used SWATH-MS to measure the abundance and site-specific modifications of proteins throughout a small-scale pale ale mash. Proteins extracted from the malt at low temperatures early in the mash decreased precipitously in abundance at higher temperatures late in the mash due to temperature/time-induced unfolding and aggregation. We validated these observations using experimental manipulation of time and temperature parameters in a micro-scale pale ale mash. Correlation analysis of temperature/time-dependent abundance showed that sequence and structure were the main features that controlled protein abundance profiles. Partial proteolysis by barley proteases was common early in the mash. The resulting proteolytically clipped proteins were particularly sensitive and were preferentially lost at high temperatures late in the mash, while intact proteins remained soluble. The beer brewing proteome is therefore driven by the interplay between protein solubilisation and proteolysis, which are in turn determined by barley variety, growth conditions, and brewing process parameters.

biochemistry↗