Determination and characterization of site-specific N-glycosylation using MALDI-Qq-TOF tandem mass spectrometry: case study with a plant protease

Anal Chem. 2006 Feb 15;78(4):1093-103. doi: 10.1021/ac0512711.

Abstract

MALDI tandem mass spectrometry analysis on a hybrid quadrupole-quadrupole time-of-flight (Qq-TOF) instrument was used in combination with two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, proteolytic digestion, and liquid chromatography for identification and structural characterization of glycosylation in a novel glycoprotein, pathogenesis-related subtilisin-like proteinase P69B from tomato. Glycopeptide fractions from microcolumn reversed-phase HPLC deposited on MALDI targets were identified from MS by their specific m/z spacing patterns (203, 162, 146 u) between glycoforms. In most cases, MS/MS spectra of [M + H]+ ions of glycopeptides featured peaks useful for determining sugar compositions, peptide sequences, and thus probable glycosylation sites. Furthermore, peptide-related product ions could readily be used in database search procedures to identify the glycoprotein. Four out of five predicted glycosylation sites were biologically relevant and occupied by five N-linked glycan side chains each. In addition, the fragmentation efficiency allowed detection of further modification of methionine-containing glycoforms with either oxidized or iodoacetamide alkylated methionine. The high resolution furnished by MALDI-Qq-TOF allowed rapid and sensitive structural characterization of site-specific N-glycosylation from a limited quantity of material and revealed heterogeneity at different levels, including different glycan side-chain modifications, and heterogeneity of oligosaccharide structures on the same glycosylation site.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
  • Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel
  • Glycopeptides / chemistry
  • Glycosylation
  • Isoelectric Focusing
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Peptide Hydrolases / chemistry*
  • Solanum lycopersicum / enzymology*
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization / methods*

Substances

  • Glycopeptides
  • Peptide Hydrolases