To probe drug mechanism of action (MOA) and interrogate the genetic architecture of human cells, we carried out isogenic genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 knockout screens against 310 diverse drugs, bioactive compounds, and stress conditions. Stringent statistical correction for gene knockout fitness defects yielded a large-scale matrix of >12,000 high confidence chemical-genetic interactions (CGIs). This dataset revealed many previously unappreciated off-target effects for well-characterized compounds and novel MOAs for uncharacterized compounds. The CGI matrix uncovered dense genetic modules that yielded new biological insights into phospholipidosis, mitotic regulation, metabolism, the DNA damage response, and mTOR signaling. The dataset allowed identification of multi-drug sensitization and resistance mechanisms, inference of gene function, elaboration of cross-process connectivity, evaluation of the cell type specificity of CGIs, prediction of chemical synergism, and extensive annotation of understudied genes. This resource provides a map of the genetic landscape in human cells and a framework to help guide drug discovery.

Mucopolysaccharidosis III (MPS III or Sanfilippo disease) is a spectrum of 4 genetic disorders (MPS IIIA-D), caused by defects in the genes SGSH, NAGLU, HGSNAT and GNS encoding enzymes involved in degradation of heparan sulfate (HS). HS accumulates in brain tissues and causes neuronal dysfunction and neurodegeneration leading to neuropsychiatric problems, developmental delays, childhood dementia, blindness and death during the second decade of life. Previously, we demonstrated that pathophysiological mechanisms, underlying MPS IIIC in mouse models, involves functional pathological changes, affecting synaptogenesis and synaptic transmission and leading to learning and memory deficits. These results suggested that a treatment for MPS III could be developed by using compounds inducing synaptogenesis. In the current study, we tested the efficacy of a synthetic peptide ACTH (4-7) PGP, an analog of adrenocorticotropic hormone fragment, previously used as a neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory medication for treatment of acute neurological conditions, including stroke. We show that intranasal administration of ACTH (4-7) PGP restores defective synaptic transmission in CA1 pyramidal neurons of MPS IIIA and MPS IIIC mouse models and rescues the decrease in synaptic proteins in cultured MPS IIIC mouse hippocampal neurons and iPSC-derived neurons of human MPS IIIA, MPS IIIB and MPS IIIC patients. Furthermore, daily intranasal administration of ACTH (4-7) PGP to MPS IIIC and MPS IIIA mice reduces hyperactivity and rescues defects in working and spatial memory, delays progression of CNS pathology including neuroinflammation and axonal demyelination, and increases the lifespan. Together with the absence of any adverse reactions to ACTH (4-7) PGP in the MPS III and WT mice, our results justify testing the drug’s efficacy in clinical settings.

Protein SUMOylation is a dynamic post-translational modification that regulates numerous cellular processes, including DNA repair, transcription, and proteostasis. SUMO modifiers are conjugated to lysine residues on substrate proteins via a conserved enzymatic cascade and can form diverse chain architectures that encode specific cellular outcomes. The identification of SUMOylated proteins and their modification sites has historically been challenging due to the low abundance of SUMOylation and the complexity of SUMO remnants after proteolysis. Recent advances in proteomics have led to the development of enrichment strategies and mass spectrometry (MS)-based methods that now enable the site-specific mapping of SUMO modifications. This chapter provides an overview of the biological roles and structural diversity of SUMOylation, and presents an MS-based workflow designed to identify SUMOylation sites with high specificity and depth. These tools offer new opportunities to dissect the SUMO-modified proteome in health and disease.

A growing body of evidence supports the contribution of the long-lasting adaptive immune system in Parkinson's disease (PD). We showed that the PD-associated protein PINK1 negatively regulates the presentation of mitochondrial antigens (MitAP) on MHC-I molecules. In vivo evidence indicated that MitAP activation in mice, in the absence of PINK1, led to cytotoxic CD8+ T cell stimulation and severe motor impairments, reversible by L-DOPA. We show here that following TLR4 activation, MitAP is engaged through a pathway involving cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS)-stimulator of interferon genes (STING), which acts as a rheostat to dampen the unfolded protein response (UPR). Without STING, the stress response is amplified, leading to a translational attenuation that inhibits the expression of XBP1s, a transcription factor required for MitAP. STING activity also regulates the repertoire of peptides displayed at the cell surface during inflammation, highlighting a potential role in immunosurveillance. These findings establish STING and the UPR as key immune regulators targetable for therapeutic intervention during autoimmune diseases and PD.

SUMOylation is a post-translational modification regulating protein localization, stability, and activity, with effects varying depending on the conjugated SUMO protein and type of SUMOylation. To determine how enhanced SUMOylation affects protein localization, we fused ZNF, a SUMOylation tag derived from SUMO E3 ligase ZNF451 that biases substrates toward SUMO2/3, to the GFP-binding nanobody vhhGFP4 (VHH), creating VHH-ZNF to drive SUMOylation of GFP-tagged substrates in trans. In vitro, VHH-ZNF increased SUMO2/3 modification of p53-GFP, preferentially generating polySUMO2 chains at the canonical K386 site. In HEK293 cells co-expressing p53-GFP and VHH-ZNF, immunoblotting and proteomics confirmed increased SUMO2/3 conjugation of p53 at K386. Fluorescence microscopy analyses revealed that SUMOylated p53 transitions from a diffuse nuclear distribution to SUMO-positive nuclear foci that partially overlap with promyelocytic leukemia (PML) and, less so, to 53BP1 nuclear bodies. Overall, we developed a method to increase the SUMOylation of GFP-tagged proteins and to visualize SUMOylation-dependent re-localization in cells.

Altered iron homeostasis has long been implicated in Parkinson's disease (PD), although the mechanisms have not been clear. Given the critical role of PD-related activating variants in leucine-rich repeat protein kinase 2 (LRRK2) within membrane trafficking pathways, we examined the impact of the homozygous variant LRRK2G2019S on iron homeostasis within the RAW264.7 mouse macrophage cell line with high iron capacity. Proteomics analysis revealed a dysregulation of iron-related proteins in steady state, with highly elevated levels of ferritin light chain (FTL1) and a reduction of ferritin heavy chain (FTH1). LRRK2G2019S mutant cells showed efficient ferritinophagy upon iron chelation, but upon iron overload, there was a near-complete block in the degradation of the ferritinophagy adaptor NCOA4. These conditions led to an accumulation of phosphorylated Rab8 (RAB8A) at the plasma membrane, which is selectively inhibited by LRRK type II kinase inhibitors. Iron overload then led to increased oxidative stress and ferroptotic cell death. These data implicate LRRK2 as a key regulator of iron homeostasis and point to the need for an increased focus on the mechanisms of iron dysregulation in PD.

Treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors in colorectal cancer (CRC) has largely benefited patients with microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) and not the larger proportion of patient with microsatellite-stable (MSS) tumors. This clinical dichotomy has fueled the view that high mutational burden is the dominant driver of tumor immunogenicity and that MSS CRC fails to respond because it is "antigen poor". To directly test this premise and define the origins of presented tumor antigens, we integrated HLA class I immunopeptidomics and matched RNA-seq from 26 primary CRC tumors spanning MSI-H and MSS subtypes. Using patient-specific canonical and cancer-specific proteogenomic databases, we identified 115,292 unique major histocompatibility complex (MHC)associated peptides (MAPs) across 61 HLA alleles, with a mean of 9292 MAPs per tumor and no significant difference in MAP counts between MSI-H and MSS tumors. In toto, we identified 266 tumor antigens, all coded by unmutated genomic sequences, comprising 70 aberrantly expressed tumor-specific antigens (aeTSAs) and 196 tumor-associated antigens (TAAs). In our cohort, MSS tumors presented more TAAs and a comparable number of aeTSAs per tumor relative to MSI-H tumors. In TCGA-COAD stratified analyses (483 tumors), MSS tumors yielded more presentable aeTSAs and TAAs per patient than MSI-H tumors. Across both subtypes, aeTSAs arose predominantly from intronic translation, UTR usage, retroelement activation, and germline-like transcription, including recurrent aeTSAs from PIWIL1, L1TD1, and endogenous retroviral loci. Together, these data demonstrate that MSS CRC is not antigen poor and highlight noncanonical translation as a major, previously under-appreciated contributor to the CRC immunopeptidome.

Despite therapeutic advances against RAS mutations in cancer, acquired resistance frequently arises. Several secondary mutations at the binding sites effectively confer resistance to both Switch-II inhibitors and cyclophilin-A molecular glues. This underscores the need for RAS inhibitors that engage alternative binding pockets or operate through novel mechanisms. Here, we report the design of 10-mer macrocyclic peptides that mimic the FG-loop of the NS1 monobody, which targets the allosteric α4-α5-β6 surface of H/KRAS to disrupt RAS clustering and downstream signaling. These noncovalent inhibitors bind to H/KRAS with equivalent potencies, regardless of nucleotide state or the presence of oncogenic mutations (G12D, G12V, G13R, Q61K), and their binding site was confirmed by NMR and X-ray crystallography. Furthermore, covalent analogs targeting Cys118 were shown to label RAS in vitro and in complete cell lysates. Finally, we demonstrated that the key pharmacophores are connectable, providing a foundation for the development of smaller allosteric H/KRAS inhibitors.

Gene fusions (GFs) are critical events in pediatric oncology, often serving as oncogenic drivers. However, fusion proteins and their derived neoantigens (GF-NEOs) remain underexplored for targeted immunotherapy. We developed ProteoFusioNEO, a computational tool for the in silico translation of transcriptomic data, analyzing 5,190 pediatric patients with cancer and 935 cell lines, yielding 382 and 446 fusion proteins. We highlight that GFs generate multiple translational outcomes, with 97% being in-frame in patients. Fusion junctions exhibit the sequence motif [KQE][DG], which partly reflects the nature of exon-exon junctions, albeit with additional hydrophilicity. Moreover, GF-NEOs' abundance may be shaped by the motif, offering insights into fusion protein biology. Finally, a multipronged validation strategy using in vitro and in vivo systems confirms the GF-NEOs presentation through mass spectrometry-based proteomics and immunopeptidomics. Multiple GF-NEOs encoded by two versions of the ETV6-RUNX1 fusion were validated, paving the way for targeted immunotherapy development.

Intracellular pH (pHi) influences diverse cellular processes, including cell proliferation, metabolism, and migration, and is linked to metabolic diseases and cancer. Protonation alters protein charge and conformation, modulating different aspects of protein function. How pHi fluctuations are sensed by signaling proteins and translated into cellular responses remains incompletely understood. Here, we reveal that pHi plays a key role in regulating the stability of the mitogen-activated protein kinase Extracellular signal-regulated kinase 3 (ERK3). Intracellular acidification markedly increases the half-life of ERK3, whereas alkalinization accelerates its degradation. The pH-dependent regulation of ERK3 is rapid, reversible, and consistent across cell types. Mechanistically, we identified a region in the C-terminus of ERK3 that contains pH-sensing motifs. We further show by quantitative proteomics that short-term acidification or alkalinization globally affects the cellular proteome. Our findings underscore the critical role of pHi in ERK3 turnover and suggest a broader role for pH in regulating protein stability and cell signaling.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nano-sized membrane-bound structures thought to be secreted by all cells and increasingly recognized as key mediators of intercellular communication. Established EV isolation protocols for bodily fluids-primarily focus on blood with limited insights into methods optimized for EVs from other hematopoietic regions. In this study, we present a novel protocol for the isolation and enrichment of EVs from human trabecular bone and bone marrow. This method employs a two-step purification strategy, combining iodixanol density cushion (IDC) ultracentrifugation with size exclusion chromatography (SEC), and enables EV recovery from fresh tissue hours after collection. Importantly, this approach facilitates the enrichment of bone-derived EVs without the need for enzymatic digestion or long-term culture, preserving native EV populations. This protocol offers a valuable tool for researchers investigating EVs derived from the diverse cellular constituents of the bone microenvironment. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Canadian Institutes of Health Research, https://ror.org/01gavpb45, 394568 Terry Fox Research Institute, https://ror.org/00mtf6c40, 1133

Mitosis is largely controlled by the reversible phosphorylation of effector proteins. The addition or removal of phosphate groups alters the activities of these proteins, resulting in changes in chromosome structure, cytoskeletal dynamics, nuclear envelope integrity, and other transformations that must occur as a cell progresses through mitosis. Drosophila has been instrumental in the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms of mitosis, which are mostly conserved among animals. In this model system, sophisticated genetic tools can be used to study mitosis in different tissues during development in vivo. Drosophila cell culture affords complementary possibilities. In this chapter, we present a phosphoproteomic protocol using Drosophila cell culture to identify phosphorylation sites that depend on mitotic kinases and phosphatases. We also provide protocols to dissect the roles of the identified sites in the regulation of protein interactions and localization during mitosis, using Drosophila embryos. We emphasize the advantages of the selected methods compared to possible alternatives in Drosophila or in other systems.

Sphingosine and constrained analogs like FTY720 and SH-BC-893 restrain tumor growth through incompletely defined mechanisms that include protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) activation. Here we show that these compounds directly bind not only the PP2A scaffolding subunit PPP2R1A, but also the structurally related karyopherins importin-β1 (KPNB1), transportin-1 (TNPO1), importin-5 (IPO5), and importin-7 (IPO7). Binding to sphingosine-like molecules triggers reversible unfolding of these target proteins, resulting in activation of PP2A and inhibition of importins. Although sphingosine engages these proteins, ceramide does not, suggesting that these two endogenous tumor-suppressive sphingolipids work through distinct mechanisms. Simultaneous PP2A activation and importin inhibition reduces nuclear levels of proteins that drive cancer progression and therapeutic resistance such as JUN, YAP, MYC, androgen receptor, hnRNPA1, and NF-κB under conditions where compounds that target PP2A or KPNB1 individually are inactive. These findings provide new insights into sphingolipid biology and highlight a possible path toward cancer therapeutics that could overcome drug resistance.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder with progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra and motor dysfunction. Genetic risk factors, environmental triggers, and dysregulated immune response have been implicated in PD. Here, we aim to study PD- associated gene - PINK1 and pathogen-Helicobacter (H.) pylori in the PD development and immune autoreactivity. We established H. pylori infection in Pink1 -/- mice and wild-type littermate controls. At two months post-infection mice underwent behavioral tests, and the stomach, the brain and the spleen were harvested. We developed in vitro assays of H.pylori induced priming of autoreactive CD8 T cells and suppression by regulatory T cells (T reg). H.pylori infected Pink1-/- mice developed a PD-like motor-behavioral dysfunction that was abrogated by CD8 cells depletion prior to infection. Motor-behaviural phenotype in infected KO mice strongly correlated with the yield of MitAg+ CD8 cells and CD8 T cell brain infiltration. H.pylori infection in vivo and in vitro altered T reg FoxP3 expression. The absence of PINK1 in dendritic cells exposed to H.pylori triggered robust priming of autoreactive 2C T cells, that can be suppressed by the WT, but poorly by the PINK1-deficient T regs. Using a model that integrates PINK1 gene and a PD-relevant pathogen we recapitulated the major features of the complex PD pathophysiology and were able to demonstrate an immune autoreactivity underlying the phenotype. This study was funded by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) and the Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) initiative. MJFF administers the grant ASAP 000525 on behalf of ASAP and itself. Neuroimmunology (NEUR)

The small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) is an important post-translational modification that regulates the function of various proteins essential for DNA damage repair, genome integrity, and cell homeostasis. To identify protein SUMOylation effectively, an enrichment step is necessary, often requiring exogenous gene expression in cells and immunoaffinity purification of SUMO-remnant peptides following tryptic digestion. Previously, an antibody was developed to enrich tryptic peptides containing the remnant NQTGG on the receptor lysine, although the specifics of the structural interaction motif remained unclear. This study integrates de novo sequencing, intact mass spectrometry, cross-linking mass spectrometry, and molecular docking to elucidate the structural interaction motifs of a SUMO-remnant antibody. Additional cross-linking experiments were performed using SUMOylated peptides and high-field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) to enhance the sensitivity and confirm interactions at the paratope interface. This study establishes a robust framework for characterizing antibody-antigen interactions, offering valuable insights into the structural basis of SUMO-remnant peptide recognition.

In efforts to identify additional therapeutic targets for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), we performed a high-throughput screen that includes 56 primary specimens tested with 10,000 structurally diverse small molecules. One specific hit, called S656 acts as a molecular glue degrader (MGD), that mediates the CRL4-dependent proteolysis of cyclin K. Structurally, S656 features a moiety that binds to the ATP binding site of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), allowing the recruitment of the CDK12-cyclin K complex, along with a binding site for DDB1 bridging the CRL4 complex. Structure activity relationship studies reveal that minimal modifications to the dimethylaniline moiety of S656 improve its cyclin K MGD function over CDK inhibition by promoting DDB1 engagement. This includes full occupation of the DDB1 pocket, preferably with hydrophobic terminal groups, and cation-π interaction with Arg928. Additionally, we demonstrate that despite structural diversity, cyclin K degraders exhibit similar functional activity in AML which is distinct from direct CDK12 inhibition.