Phosphoproteomic and bioinformatic methods for analyzing signaling in vertebrate axon growth and regeneration

Phosphorylation is the most important post-translational modification of proteins in many cells, including neurons. Phosphoproteomics is a relatively new technique for comprehensively identifying phosphorylation sites in the whole proteome of a given system. We applied this method to developmental neurobiology research to understand the signaling pathways that regulate the mammalian growth cone, which is formed at the tips of developing neurites to ensure accurate neuronal network formation. Using this powerful technique, we identified at least four phosphorylation sites tightly associated with axon growth. Because phosphoproteomic results include relatively large numbers of phosphopeptides, the data are typically analyzed using bioinformatics. We utilized three bioinformatics tools to identify the responsible protein kinases, the putative functions of the phosphorylated protein groups, and the evolutional aspects of the phosphorylated proteins. Collectively, these data indicate phosphoproteomics is a cutting-edge tool for neuroscience research.