Unusual fragmentation of ?-linked peptides by ExD tandem mass spectrometry.

ABSTRACT: Ion-electron reaction based fragmentation methods (ExD) in tandem mass spectrometry (MS), such as electron capture dissociation (ECD) and electron transfer dissociation (ETD) represent a powerful tool for biological analysis. ExD methods have been used to differentiate the presence of the isoaspartate (isoAsp) from the aspartate (Asp) in peptides and proteins. IsoAsp is a ?(3)-type amino acid that has an additional methylene group in the backbone, forming a C(?)-C(?) bond within the polypeptide chain. Cleavage of this bond provides specific fragments that allow differentiation of the isomers. The presence of a C(?)-C(?) bond within the backbone is unique to ?-amino acids, suggesting a similar application of ExD toward the analysis of peptides containing other ?-type amino acids. In the current study, ECD and ETD analysis of several ?-amino acid containing peptides was performed. It was found that N-C(?) and C(?)-C(?) bond cleavages were rare, providing few c and z• type fragments, which was attributed to the instability of the C(?) radical. Instead, the electron capture resulted primarily in the formation of a• and y fragments, representing an alternative fragmentation pathway, likely initiated by the electron capture at a backbone amide nitrogen protonation site within the ? amino acid residues.

SUBMITTER: Sargaeva NP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4361814 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature