Chemical Penetration Enhancers Increase Hydrogen Peroxide Uptake in C. elegans for In Vivo Fast Photochemical Oxidation of Proteins

Fast photochemical oxidation of proteins (FPOP) is a hydroxyl radical protein footprinting method that covalently labels solvent-accessible amino acids by photolysis of hydrogen peroxide. Recently, we expanded the use of FPOP for in vivo (IV-FPOP) covalent labeling in C. elegans. In initial IV-FPOP studies, 545 proteins were oxidatively modified in all body systems within the worm. Here, with the use of chemical penetration enhancers (CPEs), we increased the number of modified proteins as well as the number of modifications per protein to gain more structural information. CPEs aid in the delivery of hydrogen peroxide inside C. elegans by disturbing the highly ordered lipid bilayer of the worm cuticle without affecting worm viability. IV-FPOP experiments performed using the CPE azone showed an increase in oxidatively modified proteins and peptides. This increase correlated with greater hydrogen peroxide uptake by C. elegans quantified using a chemical fluorophore demonstrating the efficacy of using CPEs with IV-FPOP. Mass spectrometry proteomics data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD019290.