Protein N-termini, as the beginning of translation, has a major impact on protein's biological functions. Its sequence and various post-translational modifications often affect protein activation, stability and cellular-localization, regulate the signal transduction, and even determine protein's final destiny. The systematic study of protein N-termini can clarify the vital function of the N-terminus, and provide in-depth knowledge of the multifunctional roles that protein has played in diverse biological processes. In addition, N-terminal research may help us to achieve high-coverage proteomics and re-annotate genomics. Combined with our own research, this review highlights recent progress of N-terminomics, especially some important enrichment strategies and technologies based on mass spectrometry.
蛋白质的N 末端作为合成的起始，其氨基酸序列组成及翻译后修饰直接影响着蛋白质的活性、稳定性和细胞内定位，调控着细胞内的信号转导，甚至决定了这些蛋白质的命运。对蛋白质N 末端组学的系统研究不仅可以揭示N 末端区域对整个蛋白质的重要作用，有助于我们深入地了解蛋白质在各种生命活动中所扮演的角色，同时在实现蛋白质组高覆盖、基因组重注释等方面也有着重要的价值。本文结合我们的现有工作，综述了近年来蛋白质N 末端组学的研究进展，尤其是一些重要的基于质谱的N 末端富集技术和方法。.
Keywords: enrichment; mass spectrometry; protein N-termini; proteomics.