Mass spectrometric detection of affinity purified crosslinked peptides

J Am Soc Mass Spectrom. 2004 Jun;15(6):832-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jasms.2004.02.008.

Abstract

Chemical crosslinking of proteins combined with mass spectrometric analysis of the tryptic digest of the products shows considerable promise as a tool for interrogating structure and geometry of proteins and protein complexes. An impediment to the use of this tool has been the difficulty of distinguishing crosslinked peptide pairs from non-crosslinked peptides, and from the products of side reactions. We describe the use of a commercially available biotinylated crosslinking reagent, sulfo-SBED, that allows affinity-based enrichment of crosslinked species. An intramolecular crosslink is prepared using the peptide neurotensin as a model system. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectra show the predicted crosslinking product, as well as several side products. Finally, we describe the optimized enrichment of biotinylated species, and reduction of non-specific binding, for a batch-mode affinity separation based on immobilized monomeric avidin.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Avidin / metabolism
  • Cattle
  • Chromatography, Affinity
  • Cross-Linking Reagents / chemistry*
  • Peptides / analysis*
  • Peptides / chemistry*
  • Peptides / isolation & purification
  • Peptides / metabolism
  • Sequence Analysis, Protein
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization / methods*

Substances

  • Cross-Linking Reagents
  • Peptides
  • Avidin