Abstract
Ion charge-state distribution analysis in electro-spray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) is a robust and fast technique for direct detection and characterization of coexisting protein conformations in solution. Compact folded proteins give rise to ESI-generated ions carrying a relatively small number of charges, whereas less compact conformers accommodate upon ESI a larger number of charges depending on the extent of their unfolding. A chemometric approach [1] based upon factor analysis is applied to determine contributions from individual conformers to the overall CSD. Here we present basic guidelines for the use of this MS-based technique: from the preparation of suitable solutions for ESI-MS to the acquisition of reliable MS data and their subsequent analysis.
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This work was supported by a grant CHE-0750389 from the National Science Foundation.
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Abzalimov, R.R., Frimpong, A.K., Kaltashov, I.A. (2012). Detection and Characterization of Large-Scale Protein Conformational Transitions in Solution Using Charge-State Distribution Analysis in ESI-MS. In: Uversky, V., Dunker, A. (eds) Intrinsically Disordered Protein Analysis. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 896. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3704-8_24
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3704-8_24
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