Introducing protein deamidation: Landmark discoveries, societal outreach, and tentative priming workflow to address deamidation

• Published in: Methods (San Diego, Calif.) Vol. 200; pp. 3 - 14
• Main Authors: Boudier-Lemosquet, Axel, Mahler, Adrien, Bobo, Claude, Dufossée, Mélody, Priault, Muriel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.04.2022; Elsevier
• Subjects: Amides - chemistry; Archaeology sample dating; Artwork dating; deamidation; Deamidation historical milestones; Deamidation reaction mechanism; Deamidation technical milestones; Forensic analysis; glutamine; Glutamine - chemistry; Glutamine - metabolism; Life Sciences; outreach; Post-translational modification; Protein instability; Proteins; Workflow; PIMT; ACTH; ToF; FT; Deamidation reaction mechanism; Forensic analysis; Deamidation technical milestones; Archaeology sample dating; FAB MS; ESI; HPLC; Post-translational modification; Deamidation historical milestones; MS; MALDI; ECD; CAD; Artwork dating; IEF; POI; PMI; CZE; ETD; Protein instability; SAH; SAM
• ISSN: 1046-2023; 1095-9130; 1095-9130
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ymeth.2021.11.012

•Protein deamidation was founded almost 100 years ago.•Historical milestones include insights in the reaction mechanism, factors influencing.•Catalysis and technical breakthrough.•Interest for protein deamidation now spreads to ancient art, archaeology, biotechnology and forensic.•A step-by-step priming workflow is proposed to initiate a study on deamidation. Our current knowledge on protein deamidation results from a journey that started almost 100 years ago, when a handful of researchers first described the non-enzymatic “desamidation” of glutamine, and the effect of different anions on the catalytic rate of the reaction. Since then, the field has tremendously expended and now finds outreach in very diverse areas. In light of all the recent articles published in these areas, it seemed timely to propose an integrated review on the subject, including a short historical overview of the landmark discoveries in the field, highlighting the current global positioning of protein deamidation in biology and non-biology fields, and concluding with a workflow for those asking if a protein can deamidate, and identify the residues involved. This review is essentially intended to provide newcomers in the field with an overview of how deamidation has penetrated our society and what tools are currently at hand to identify and quantify protein deamidation.