Post-translational modification profiling - A novel tool for mapping the protein modification landscape in cancer

The ubiquitin system plays an important role in essentially every cellular process, regulating numerous pathways ranging from development, transcription, DNA damage response, cell cycle, and signal transduction. Its best studied role involves removal of faulty proteins or those that are not necessary anymore. Aberrations in the ubiquitin system have been implicated in various pathologies including cancer, where specific mutations in E3 ligases such as Mdm2, pVHL, and BRCA1 have been linked to disease progression, prognosis, and resistance to drugs. Yet, there are hundreds of E3 ligases in the human genome and our knowledge of their target proteins and their dynamic regulation in the cellular environment is largely limited. In addition, fundamental questions related to recognition and specificity in ubiquitin conjugation remain unanswered. It is thus of major importance to characterize the ubiquitin landscape under various cellular conditions, and study how the regulatory network is altered in health and disease. To do so, analytical tools that allow identification of ubiquitin substrates, the conjugation and removal of ubiquitin, and the nature of specific ubiquitin linkages that are formed are needed. In this mini-review, we discuss common proteomic methodologies applied to studying the ubiquitome, and specifically focus on our recently developed post-translational modification (PTM) profiling approach. PTM profiling is a functional assay, amenable to biochemical manipulation, which allows the detection of protein modifications in a high-throughput manner. We discuss in detail the advantages and limitations of this system, focusing primarily on examples for analyzing the ubiquitin system in cancer. Uncovering the intricate signaling dynamics governed by and regulating ubiquitin modifications should clearly evolve into a new paradigm in understanding the molecular basis of malignant transformation and the development of novel therapeutic modalities.