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Solution Dependence of the Collisional Activation of Ubiquitin [M + 7H]7+ Ions

  • Focus: Advancing High Performance Mass Spectrometry: Research Article
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Journal of The American Society for Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

The solution dependence of gas-phase unfolding for ubiquitin [M + 7H]7+ ions has been studied by ion mobility spectrometry-mass spectrometry (IMS-MS). Different acidic water:methanol solutions are used to favor the native (N), more helical (A), or unfolded (U) solution states of ubiquitin. Unfolding of gas-phase ubiquitin ions is achieved by collisional heating and newly formed structures are examined by IMS. With an activation voltage of 100 V, a selected distribution of compact structures unfolds, forming three resolvable elongated states (E1-E3). The relative populations of these elongated structures depend strongly on the solution composition. Activation of compact ions from aqueous solutions known to favor N-state ubiquitin produces mostly the E1 type elongated state, whereas activation of compact ions from methanol containing solutions that populate A-state ubiquitin favors the E3 elongated state. Presumably, this difference arises because of differences in precursor ion structures emerging from solution. Thus, it appears that information about solution populations can be retained after ionization, selection, and activation to produce the elongated states. These data as well as others are discussed.

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Acknowledgment

The authors gratefully acknowledge partial funding of this work from grants that support instrumentation development. These include grants from the NIH (1RC1GM090797-02) and funds from the Indiana University METACyt initiative that is funded by a grant from the Lilly Endowment.

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  1. Natalya Atlasevich

    Present address: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, 10028, USA

  2. Samuel I. Merenbloom

    Present address: AB SCIEX, Vaughan, ON, L4K 4V8, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA

    Huilin Shi, Natalya Atlasevich, Samuel I. Merenbloom & David E. Clemmer

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  1. Huilin Shi
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  2. Natalya Atlasevich
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Correspondence to David E. Clemmer.

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Shi, H., Atlasevich, N., Merenbloom, S.I. et al. Solution Dependence of the Collisional Activation of Ubiquitin [M + 7H]7+ Ions. J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 25, 2000–2008 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13361-014-0834-y

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