Large scale phosphoprotein profiling to explore Drosophila cold acclimation regulatory mechanisms

The regulatory mechanisms involved in the acquisition of thermal tolerance are unknown in insects. Reversible phosphorylation is a widespread post-translational modification that can rapidly alter proteins function(s). Here, we conducted a large-scale comparative screening of phosphorylation networks in adult Drosophila flies that were cold-acclimated versus control. Using a modified SIMAC method followed by a multiple MS analysis strategy, we identified a large collection of phosphopeptides (about 1600) and phosphoproteins (about 500) in both groups, with good enrichment efficacy (80%). The saturation curves from the four biological replicates revealed that the phosphoproteome was rather well covered under our experimental conditions. Acclimation evoked a strong phosphoproteomic signal characterized by large sets of unique and differential phosphoproteins. These were involved in several major GO superclusters of which cytoskeleton organization, positive regulation of transport, cell cycle, and RNA processing were particularly enriched. Data suggest that phosphoproteomic changes in response to acclimation were mainly localized within cytoskeletal network, and particularly within microtubule associated complexes. This study opens up novel research avenues for exploring the complex regulatory networks that lead to acquired thermal tolerance.