Structural Analysis of Biopolymer(Protein) by Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

Mass spectrometric approaches for the structural analysis of biopolimer, especially protein, have been studied. The recent progress of ion source (FD, FAB, SI MS) makes it possible to ionize and detect heavy peptides. For the sequence determination of unknown peptides, the combination of enzymic or chemical digestions, high performance liquid chromatgraphy, mass spectrometry, Edman degradation and computer analysis is the most effective method. For the characterization of protein variant, the mass spectrometric approach is very useful. Several techniques for determining unknown variants are explained by using the case of hemoglobin variant analysis.