Mass spectrometry‐based proteomics of oxidative stress: Identification of 4‐hydroxy‐2‐nonenal (HNE) adducts of amino acids using lysozyme and bovine serum albumin as model proteins

Modification of proteins by 4‐hydroxy‐2‐nonenal (HNE), a reactive by‐product of ω6 polyunsaturated fatty acid oxidation, on specific amino acid residues is considered a biomarker for oxidative stress, as occurs in many metabolic, hereditary, and age‐related diseases. HNE modification of amino acids can occur either via Michael addition or by formation of Schiff‐base adducts. These modifications typically occur on cysteine (Cys), histidine (His), and/or lysine (Lys) residues, resulting in an increase of 156 Da (Michael addition) or 138 Da (Schiff‐base adducts), respectively, in the mass of the residue. Here, we employed biochemical and mass spectrometry (MS) approaches to determine the MS “signatures” of HNE‐modified amino acids, using lysozyme and BSA as model proteins. Using direct infusion of unmodified and HNE‐modified lysozyme into an electrospray quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometer, we were able to detect up to seven HNE modifications per molecule of lysozyme. Using nanoLC‐MS/MS, we found that, in addition to N‐terminal amino acids, Cys, His, and Lys residues, HNE modification of arginine (Arg), threonine (Thr), tryptophan (Trp), and histidine (His) residues can also occur. These sensitive and specific methods can be applied to the study of oxidative stress to evaluate HNE modification of proteins in complex mixtures from cells and tissues under diseased versus normal conditions.     

Hydroxyl radical probe of the surface of lysozyme by synchrotron radiolysis and mass spectrometry.

A new approach is reported that combines synchrotron radiolysis and mass spectrometry to probe the surface of proteins. Hydroxyl radicals produced upon the radiolysis of protein solutions with synchrotron light for several milliseconds result in the reaction of amino acid side chains. This results in the formation of stable oxidation products where the level of oxidation at the reactive residues is influenced by the accessibility of their side chains to the bulk solvent. The aromatic and sulfur-containing residues have been found to react preferentially in accord with previous peptide studies. The sites of oxidation have been determined by tandem mass spectrometry. The rate of oxidation at these reactive markers has been measured for each of the proteolytic peptides as a function of exposure time based on the relative proportion of modified and unmodified peptide ions detected by mass spectrometry. Oxidation rates have been found to correlate closely with a theoretical measure of the accessibility of residue side chains to the bulk solvent in the native protein structure. The synchrotron-based approach is able to distinguish the relative accessibility of the tryptophan residue side chains of lysozyme at positions 62 and 123 from each other and all other tryptophan residues based on their rates of oxidation.     

Mass spectrometric characterization of peptides containing different oxidized tryptophan residues

The term reactive oxygen species refers to small molecules that can oxidize, for example, nearby proteins, especially cysteine, methionine, tryptophan, and tyrosine residues. Tryptophan oxidation is always irreversible in the cell and can yield several oxidation products, such as 5-hydroxy-tryptophan (5-HTP), oxindolylalanine (Oia), kynurenine (Kyn), and N-formyl-kynurenine (NFK). Because of the severe effects that oxidized tryptophan residues can have on proteins, there is a great need to develop generally applicable and highly sensitive techniques to identify the oxidized residue and the oxidation product. Here, the fragmentation behavior of synthetic peptides corresponding to sequences recently identified in three skeletal muscle proteins as containing oxidized tryptophan residues were studied using postsource decay and collision-induced dissociation (CID) in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight (TOF)/TOF mass spectrometry (MS) and CID in an electrospray ionization (ESI) double quadrupole TOF-MS. For each sequence, a panel of five different peptides containing Trp, 5-HTP, Kyn, NFK, or Oia residue was studied. It was always possible to identify the modified positions by the y-series and also to distinguish the different oxidation products by characteristic fragment ions in the lower mass range by tandem MS. NFK- and Kyn-containing peptides displayed an intense signal at m/z 174.1, which could be useful in identifying accordingly modified peptides by a sensitive precursor ion scan. Most importantly, it was always possible to distinguish isomeric 5-HTP and Oia residues. In ESI- and MALDI-MS/MS, this was achieved by the signal intensity ratios of two signals obtained at m/z 130.1 and 146.1. In addition, high collision energy CID in the MALDI-TOF/TOF-MS also permitted the identification of these two isomeric residues by their v- and w-ions, respectively.     

On‐plate deposition of oxidized proteins to facilitate protein footprinting studies by radical probe mass spectrometry

The on‐plate deposition of oxidized proteins is described to advance footprinting applications by radical probe mass spectrometry (RP‐MS). An electrospray ionization (ESI) needle assembly mounted vertically over a 384‐target matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) plate enabled the limited oxidation of proteins as they were released in the charged droplets ahead of their deposition on the plate. This method combined with on‐plate proteolytic digestion protocols expedites the analysis of proteins oxidized by RP‐MS, and avoids the need to collect and reconstitute samples prior to analysis by MALDI mass spectrometry. Oxidation of peptides from solutions in water as well as an ammonium bicarbonate solution was investigated to test the optimal conditions required for on‐plate oxidation of proteins. These comprised of peptides with a wide range of reactive amino acids including Phe, Tyr, Pro, His, Leu, Met and Lys that were previously shown to oxidize in both electrospray discharge and synchrotron radiolysis based footprinting experiments. The on‐plate deposition of lysozyme oxidized at electrospray needle voltages of 6 and 9 kV were carried out to demonstrate conditions suitable for footprinting experiments as well as those that induce the onset of protein damage. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mass spectrometric characterization of photooxidative protein modifications in Arabidopsis thaliana thylakoid membranes

Oxidative and nitrosative stress leaves footprints in the plant chloroplast in the form of oxidatively modified proteins. Using a mass spectrometric approach, we identified 126 tyrosine and 12 tryptophan nitration sites in 164 nitrated proteolytic peptides, mainly from photosystem I (PSI), photosystem II (PSII), cytochrome b(6) /f and ATP-synthase complexes and 140 oxidation products of tyrosine, tryptophan, proline, phenylalanine and histidine residues. While a high number of nitration sites were found in proteins from four photosynthetic complexes indicating that the nitration belongs to one of the prominent posttranslational protein modifications in photosynthetic apparatus, amino acid oxidation products were determined mostly in PSII and to a lower extent in PSI. Exposure of plants to light stress resulted in an increased level of tyrosine and tryptophan nitration and tryptophan oxidation in proteins of PSII reaction center and the oxygen-evolving complex, as compared to low light conditions. In contrast, the level of nitration and oxidation of these amino acid residues strongly decreased for all light-harvesting proteins of PSII under the same conditions. Based on these data, we propose that oxidative modifications of proteins by reactive oxygen and nitrogen species might represent an important regulatory mechanism of protein turnover under light stress conditions, especially for PSII and its antenna proteins.     

Mass spectrometric identification of oxidative modifications of tryptophan residues in proteins: Chemical artifact or post-translational modification?

Oxidative modification of tryptophan to kynurenine (KYN) and N-formyl kynurenine (NFK) has been described in mitochondrial proteins associated with redox metabolism, and in human cataract lenses. To a large extent, however, previously reported identifications of these modifications were performed using peptide mass fingerprinting and/or tandem-MS data of proteins separated by gel electrophoresis. To date, it is uncertain whether NFK and KYN may represent sample handling artifacts or exclusively post-translational events. To address the problem of the origin of tryptophan oxidation, we characterized several antibodies by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, with and without the use of electrophoretic separation of heavy and light chains. Antibodies are not normally expected to undergo oxidative modifications, however, several tryptophan (Trp) residues on both heavy and light chains were found extensively modified to both doubly oxidized Trp and KYN following SDS-PAGE separation and in-gel digestion. In contrast, those residues were observed as non-modified upon in-solution digestion. These results indicate that Trp oxidation may occur as an artifact in proteins separated by SDS-PAGE, and their presence should be carefully interpreted, especially when gel electrophoretic separation methods are employed.     

Lysozyme oxidation by singlet molecular oxygen: Peptide characterization using [18O]‐labeling oxygen and nLC‐MS/MS

Singlet molecular oxygen (¹O₂) is generated in biological systems and reacts with different biomolecules. Proteins are a major target for ¹O₂, and His, Tyr, Met, Cys, and Trp are oxidized at physiological pH. In the present study, the modification of lysozyme protein by ¹O₂ was investigated using mass spectrometry approaches. The experimental findings showed methionine, histidine, and tryptophan oxidation. The experiments were achieved using [¹⁸O]‐labeled ¹O₂ released from thermolabile endoperoxides in association with nano‐scale liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. The structural characterization by nLC‐MS/MS of the amino acids in the tryptic peptides of the proteins showed addition of [¹⁸O]‐labeling atoms in different amino acids.     

Oxidative protein labeling in mass-spectrometry-based proteomics

Oxidation of proteins and peptides is a common phenomenon, and can be employed as a labeling technique for mass-spectrometry-based proteomics. Nonspecific oxidative labeling methods can modify almost any amino acid residue in a protein or only surface-exposed regions. Specific agents may label reactive functional groups in amino acids, primarily cysteine, methionine, tyrosine, and tryptophan. Nonspecific radical intermediates (reactive oxygen, nitrogen, or halogen species) can be produced by chemical, photochemical, electrochemical, or enzymatic methods. More targeted oxidation can be achieved by chemical reagents but also by direct electrochemical oxidation, which opens the way to instrumental labeling methods. Oxidative labeling of amino acids in the context of liquid chromatography(LC)–mass spectrometry (MS) based proteomics allows for differential LC separation, improved MS ionization, and label-specific fragmentation and detection. Oxidation of proteins can create new reactive groups which are useful for secondary, more conventional derivatization reactions with, e.g., fluorescent labels. This review summarizes reactions of oxidizing agents with peptides and proteins, the corresponding methodologies and instrumentation, and the major, innovative applications of oxidative protein labeling described in selected literature from the last decade.     

Electrochemical oxidation and cleavage of proteins with on-line mass spectrometric detection: Development of an instrumental alternative to enzymatic protein digestion

An electrochemical flow cell coupled on-line to a mass spectrometer is used to oxidize a range of proteins. Oxidation of tyrosine and tryptophan can give rise to peptide bond cleavage at their C-terminal side. This suggests the possible use of electrochemistry as an alternative protein digestion method. For the small proteins insulin and alpha-lactalbumin (6 and 14 kD) almost all potential sites are cleaved, while for the largest successfully tested protein (carbonic anhydrase, 29 kD) 7 of the 15 available sites were specifically cleaved. Several proteins did not produce peptides upon electrochemical oxidation, possibly due to problems with accessibility of tyrosine and tryptophan residues, or to competing oxidation reactions. Peptides were generally not the major oxidation products: non-cleavage oxidation products observed as protein mass + n x 16 Da, presumably by oxidation of tyrosine, tryptophan, cysteine and methionine, account for the major fraction of protein oxidation products. Nevertheless the amount and variety of cleavage products at the present conditions shows good prospects for further improvement of the system. The efficient protein oxidation also allows the use of the EC-MS system as a tool to study protein oxidation reactions in general. The preconditioning and life history and/or age of the electrochemical cell was relevant to the solvent and sample conditions needed for efficient oxidative cleavage as opposed to other oxidation reactions.     

Novel biomarkers of protein oxidation sites and degrees using horse cytochrome c as the target by mass spectrometry

Biomarkers held both incredible application and significant challenge in probing the oxidation mechanisms of proteins under oxidative stress. Here, mass spectrometry (MS) coupled with liquid chromatography (LC) was applied to establish a new pipeline to probe the oxidation sites and degrees of horse cytochrome c (HCC) with its oxidative products serving as the biomarkers. Samples of native and UV/H(2)O(2) oxidized HCCs were digested by trypsin and subjected to biomarker discovery using LC/MS and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Experiment results proved that the main oxidation sites were located at Cys(14), Cys(17), Met(65) and Met(80) residues in peptides C(14)AQC(heme)HTVEK(22), C(14)AQCHTVEK(22), E(60)ETLMEYLENPKK(73), M(80)IFAGIK(86) and M(80)IFAGIKK(87). Quantitative analysis on the oxidized peptides showed the oxidation degrees of target sites had positive correlations with extended oxidation dose and controlled by residues types and their accessibility to solvent molecules. Being able to provide plentiful information for the oxidation sites and oxidation degrees, the identified oxidized products were feasibility biomarkers for HCC oxidation, compared with the conventional protein carbonyl assay.     

Reactivity of Tyr–Leu and Leu–Tyr dipeptides: identification of oxidation products by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

The exposure of peptides and proteins to reactive hydroxyl radicals results in covalent modifications of amino acid side‐chains and protein backbone. In this study we have investigated the oxidation the isomeric peptides tyrosine–leucine (YL) and leucine–tyrosine (LY), by the hydroxyl radical formed under Fenton reaction (Fe²⁺/H₂O₂). Through mass spectrometry (MS), high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC‐MS) and electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC‐MSⁿ) measurements, we have identified and characterized the oxidation products of these two dipeptides. This approach allowed observing and identifying a wide variety of oxidation products, including isomeric forms of the oxidized dipeptides. We detected oxidation products with 1, 2, 3 and 4 oxygen atoms for both peptides; however, oxidation products with 5 oxygen atoms were only present in LY. LY dipeptide oxidation leads to more isomers with 1 and 2 oxygen atoms than YL (3 vs 5 and 4 vs 5, respectively). Formation of the peroxy group occurred preferentially in the C‐terminal residue. We have also detected oxidation products with double bonds or keto groups, dimers (YL–YL and LY–LY) and other products as a result of cross‐linking. Both amino acids in the dipeptides were oxidized although the peptides showed different oxidation products. Also, amino acid residues have shown different oxidation products depending on the relative position on the dipeptide. Results suggest that amino acids in the C‐terminal position are more prone to oxidation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydroxyl radical probe of the calmodulin-melittin complex interface by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

The calcium-dependent interaction of calmodulin and melittin is studied through the application of a radical probe approach in which solutions of the protein and peptide and protein alone are subjected to high fluxes of hydroxyl and other oxygen radicals on millisecond timescales. These radicals are generated by an electrical discharge within an electrospray ion source of a mass spectrometer. Condensation of the electrosprayed droplets followed by proteolytic digestion of both calmodulin and melittin has identified residues in both which participate in the interaction and/or are shielded from solvent within the protein complex. Consistent with other theoretical models and available experimental data, the tryptophan residue of melittin at position 19 is shown to be critical to the formation of the complex with the C-terminal domain of peptide enveloped by and protected from oxidation upon binding to the protein. Furthermore, the N-terminal domain (to residue 36) and tyrosine at position 99 in calmodulin are significantly protected from limited oxidation upon the binding of melittin while exposing the phenylalanine residue at position 92 of the flexible loop domain. The N-terminus (through residue 36) of calmodulin is shown to lie in closer proximity to the melittin helix than its C-terminal counterpart (residues 127-148) based upon the protection levels measured at reactive residues within these segments of the protein.     

Identification of Photooxidation Sites in Bovine α-Crystallin

Abstract— Because UV irradiation of proteins can produce reactive oxygen species and exposure to UV light has been implicated in cataractogenesis, the sites of photooxidation of bovine α-crystallin, a major lens protein with molecular chaperone activity, were identified using tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Bovine α-crystallin was irradiated with UV light (293 nm) for 1, 4 and 8 h, digested with trypsin and analyzed by matrix-assisted laser de-sorption ionization, time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI) to identify the oxidized sequences. Tryptic peptides were purified by reverse-phase HPLC and oxidized peptides were sequenced by MS/MS to determine the sites of oxidation. Tryptophan fluorescence decreased exponentially with increasing time of UV exposure and peptides containing residues 1-11 of α-crystallin and 1-11, 12-22 and 57-69 of α-crystallin were determined to be oxidized by shifts of 16 D or multiples of 16 Da above the mass of the unmodified peptide. The MALDI analysis revealed single oxidation of all four sequences, which increased with increasing time of UV exposure and possible double oxidation of α 12-22. The specific sites of photooxidation indicate that the N-terminal regions of α-and β-crystallin are exposed to an aqueous environment and are in the vicinity of tryptophan residues from neighboring subunits.     

Oxidation of bovine serum albumin: identification of oxidation products and structural modifications

Albumin is an important plasma antioxidant protein, contributing to protecting mechanisms of cellular and regulatory long‐lived proteins. The metal‐catalyzed oxidation (MCO) of proteins plays an important role during oxidative stress. In this study, we examine the oxidative modification of albumin using an MCO in vitro system. Mass spectrometry, combined with off‐line nano‐liquid chromatography, was used to identify modifications in amino acid residues. We have found 106 different residues oxidatively damaged, being the main oxidized residues lysines, cysteines, arginines, prolines, histidines and tyrosines. Besides protein hydroxyl derivatives and oxygen additions, we detected other modifications such as deamidations, carbamylations and specific amino acid oxidative modifications. The oxidative damage preferentially affects particular subdomains of the protein at different time‐points. Results suggest the oxidative damage occurs first in exposed regions near cysteine disulfide bridges with residues like methionine, tryptophan, lysine, arginine, tyrosine and proline appearing as oxidatively modified. The damage extended afterwards with further oxidation of cysteine residues involved in disulfide bridges and other residues like histidine, phenylalanine and aspartic acid. The time‐course evaluation also shows the number of oxidized residues does not increase linearly, suggesting that oxidative unfolding of albumin occurs through a step‐ladder mechanism. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Derivatisation of peptides with osmium tetroxide, 2,2′-bipyridine: capillary electrophoretic and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometric study

Site-specific chemical modification is a useful technology in characterisation of proteins, but the number of chemical probes of the protein structure reacting with proteins under mild conditions in aqueous solutions is rather limited. Here we studied the reaction of osmium tetroxide, 2,2′-bipyridine (Os,bipy) with several peptides using capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) and matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionisation-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Both techniques showed formation of a stable complex of Os,bipy with tryptophan residues. In CZE peaks with different migration times and UV-Vis spectra were observed. MALDI-TOF MS showed the formation of a product with characteristic isotopic pattern corresponding to the presence of osmium atom. Oxidation of cysteine and methionine side chains to cysteic acid and methionine sulfone by Os,bipy was detected by CZE and confirmed by MALDI-TOF and post-source decay (PSD) mass spectra. PSD showed specific shifts of molecular weights of the peptides and their fragments after the derivatisation. We believe that Os,bipy may become a useful agent in the characterisation of proteins.     

Photoproducts Formed in the Photoyellowing of Collagen in the Presence of a Fluorescent Whitening Agent

Fibrous proteins discolor on exposure to the UV component of sunlight. This effect is exacerbated in the presence of fluorescent whitening agents (FWAs), which are often applied to textiles to improve product brightness. Tryptophan photoproducts have been identified as significant contributors to protein photoyellowing; however, the role of non–tryptophan-derived chromophores is less clear. In this study bovine collagen, containing no tryptophan residues, was irradiated in the presence and absence of the stilbene-derived FWA, 4,4'-bis(2-sulfostyryl)biphenyl (DSBP) and photoproducts were identified using mass spectrometry. Photoyellowing was found to be dependent on the presence of the FWA, attributed to amplified generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), particularly hydroxyl radicals and peroxynitrite. Four key proteinaceous photomodifications contributing directly to photoyellowing were located in irradiated collagen pretreated with DSBP, namely dopa, nitrophenylalanine, nitrotyrosine and nitrohistidine. This represents the first direct characterization of the three nitrated residues in the photoyellowing of an isolated fibrous protein, and implicates the ROS, peroxynitrite, as a key contributor to protein photoyellowing. Direct oxidative modification of the FWA itself was also observed. This study demonstrates that, even in the absence of tryptophan residues, significant photomodification of protein residues leading to chromophore formation occurs in the presence of an FWA.     

Applications of mass spectrometry to food proteins and peptides

The application of mass spectrometry (MS) to large biomolecules has been revolutionized in the past decade with the development of electrospray ionization (ESI) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) techniques. ESI and MALDI permit solvent evaporation and sublimation of large biomolecules into the gaseous phase, respectively. The coupling of ESI or MALDI to an appropriate mass spectrometer has allowed the determination of accurate molecular mass and the detection of chemical modification at high sensitivity (picomole to femtomole). The interface of mass spectrometry hardware with computers and new extended mass spectrometric methods has resulted in the use of MS for protein sequencing, post-translational modifications, protein conformations (native, denatured, folding intermediates), protein folding/unfolding, and protein-protein or protein-ligand interactions. In this review, applications of MS, particularly ESI-MS and MALDI time-of-flight MS, to food proteins and peptides are described.     

Qualitative and quantitative characterization of the arsenic‐binding behaviour of sulfur‐containing peptides and proteins by the coupling of reversed phase liquid chromatography to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Phenylarsenic‐substituted cysteine‐containing peptides and proteins were completely differentiated from their unbound original forms by the coupling of reversed phase liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. The analysis of biomolecules possessing structure‐stabilizing disulfide bridges after reduction provides new insights into requirements concerning the accessibility of cysteine residues for reducing agents as well as for arsenic compounds in a spatial protein structure. Complementary binding studies performed using direct ESI‐MS without chromatographic coupling in different solvent systems demonstrated that more than one binding site were activated for aprotinin and lysozyme in denaturing solvents because of a stronger defolding. From the intensities of the different charge states occurring in the mass spectra as well as from the LC elution behaviour, it can be deduced that the folding state of the arsenic‐bound protein species resembles the native, oxidized conformation. In contrast, although the milk protein α‐lactalbumin has several disulfide bridges, only one phenylarsenic moiety was bound under strongly denaturing conditions. Because of the charge state distribution in the ESI mass spectra, a conformational change to a molten globule structure is assumed. For the second considered milk protein ß‐lactoglobulin, a noncovalent interaction with phenylarsine oxide was detected. In general, smaller apparent binding constants for the condensation reactions of the biomolecules with phenylarsine oxide leading to covalent arsenic–sulfur bindings were determined from direct injection ESI‐MS measurements than from LC‐ESI‐MS coupling. The following order of binding affinities for one phenylarsenic group can be assumed from both ESI‐MS and LC‐ESI‐MS: nonapeptide vasopressin > nonapeptide vasotocin > lysozyme > aprotinin > α‐lactalbumin > thioredoxin. Kinetic investigations by LC‐ESI‐MS yielded a partial reaction order of 2 for vasopressin, Lys and α‐lactalbumin and corresponding half‐lives of 0.93, 2.56 and 123.5 min, respectively. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Structural analysis of naphthoquinone protein adducts with liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry and the scoring algorithm for spectral analysis (SALSA)

The relative reactivities of various naphthoquinone isomers (1,4-, 1,2- and 2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone) to two test proteins, apomyoglobin and human hemoglobin, were evaluated via liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS). The structural characterization of the resulting adducts was also obtained by LC/ESI-MS analysis of the intact proteins. The reactive sites of apomyoglobin and human hemoglobin with 1,4-naphthoquinone and 1,2-naphthoquinone were also identified through characterization of adducted tryptic peptides by use of high-pressure liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI-MS/MS), TurboSEQUEST, and the scoring algorithm for spectral analysis (SALSA). Four adducted peptides, which were formed by nucleophilic addition of a lysine amino acid residue to 1,4-naphthoquinone, were also identified, as was an adducted peptide from incubation of 1,2-naphthoquinone with apomyoglobin. In the case of incubation of human hemoglobin with the two naphthoquinones, two adducted peptides were identified from the N-terminal valine modification of the alpha and beta chains of human hemoglobin. The adducted protein formation may imply that naphthalene produces its in vivo toxicity through 1,2- and 1,4-naphthoquinone metabolites reacting with biomolecular proteins.     

Protein structural effects in gas phase ion/molecule reactions with diethylamine.

The relationship between gas-phase protein structure and ion/molecule reactivity is explored in comparisons between native and disulfide-reduced aprotinin, lysozyme, and albumin. Reactions are performed in the atmospheric-pressure inlet to a quadrupole mass spectrometer employing a novel capillary interface-reactor. In reactions with equal concentrations of diethylamine, multiply protonated molecules generated by electrospray ionization (ESI) of 'native' proteins shifted to lower charge states than did multiply protonated molecules from ESI of the disulfide-reduced counterparts, suggesting that the disulfide-reduced protein ions are less reactive than native protein ions of the same charge state. Differences in reactivity may arise from protonation of different amino acid residues and/or differences in the proximities of charge sites in the two molecules. These results suggest that the reactivity of multiply charged proteins can be significantly affected by their gas-phase structure.