Optimization of chemoenzymatic mass-tagging by strain-promoted cycloaddition (SPAAC) for the determination of O-GlcNAc stoichiometry by Western blotting

The dynamic modification of intracellular proteins by O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAcylation) plays critical roles in many cellular processes. Although various methods have been developed for O-GlcNAc detection, there are few techniques for monitoring glycosylation stoichiometry and state (i.e., mono-, di-, etc., O-GlcNAcylated). Measuring the levels of O-GlcNAcylation on a given substrate protein is important for understanding the biology of this critical modification and for prioritizing substrates for functional studies. One powerful solution to this limitation involves the chemoenzymatic installation of polyethylene glycol polymers of defined molecular mass onto O-GlcNAcylated proteins. These "mass tags" produce shifts in protein migration during sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) that can be detected by Western blotting. Broad adoption of this method by the scientific community has been limited, however, by a lack of commercially available reagents and well-defined protein standards. Here, we develop a "click chemistry" approach to this method using entirely commercial reagents and confirm the accuracy of the approach using a semisynthetic O-GlcNAcylated protein. Our studies establish a new, expedited experimental workflow and standardized methods that can be readily utilized by non-experts to quantify the O-GlcNAc stoichiometry and state on endogenous proteins in any cell or tissue lysate.