Deep Learning-Based Label-Free Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Screening and Recognition of Small-Molecule Binding Sites in Proteins

Identification of small-molecule binding sites in proteins is of great significance in analysis of protein function and drug design. Modified sites can be recognized via proteolytic cleavage followed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS); however, this has always been impeded by the complexity of peptide mixtures and the elaborate synthetic design for tags. Here, we demonstrate a novel technique for identifying protein binding sites using a deep learning-based label-free surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) screening (DLSS) strategy. In DLSS, the deep learning model that was trained with large SERS signals could detect signal features of small molecules with high accuracy (>99%). Without any secondary tag, the small molecules are directly complexed with proteins. After proteolysis and LC, SERS signals of all LC fractions are collected and input into the model, whereby the fractions containing the small-molecule-modified peptides can be recognized by the model and sent to MS/MS to identify the binding site(s). By using an automated DLSS system, we successfully identified the modification sites of fomepizole in alcohol dehydrogenase, which is coordinated with zinc along with three peptides. We also showed that the DLSS strategy works for identification of amino-acid residues that covalently bond with ibrutinib in Bruton tyrosine kinase. These results suggest that the DLSS strategy, which provides high molecular recognition capability to LC-MS analysis, has potential in drug discovery, proteomics, and metabolomics.