Structural profiling of endogenous S-nitrosocysteine residues reveals unique features that accommodate diverse mechanisms for protein S-nitrosylation

S-nitrosylation, the selective posttranslational modification of protein cysteine residues to form S-nitrosocysteine, is one of the molecular mechanisms by which nitric oxide influences diverse biological functions. In this study, unique MS-based proteomic approaches precisely pinpointed the site of S-nitrosylation in 328 peptides in 192 proteins endogenously modified in WT mouse liver. Structural analyses revealed that S-nitrosylated cysteine residues were equally distributed in hydrophobic and hydrophilic areas of proteins with an average predicted pK _a of 10.01 ± 2.1. S-nitrosylation sites were over-represented in α-helices and under-represented in coils as compared with unmodified cysteine residues in the same proteins (χ ² test, P < 0.02). A quantile–quantile probability plot indicated that the distribution of S-nitrosocysteine residues was skewed toward larger surface accessible areas compared with the unmodified cysteine residues in the same proteins. Seventy percent of the S-nitrosylated cysteine residues were surrounded by negatively or positively charged amino acids within a 6-Å distance. The location of cysteine residues in α-helices and coils in highly accessible surfaces bordered by charged amino acids implies site directed S-nitrosylation mediated by protein–protein or small molecule interactions. Moreover, 13 modified cysteine residues were coordinated with metals and 15 metalloproteins were endogenously modified supporting metal-catalyzed S-nitrosylation mechanisms. Collectively, the endogenous S-nitrosoproteome in the liver has structural features that accommodate multiple mechanisms for selective site-directed S-nitrosylation.