Search PubMedSearch

PubMed · 3134832

A complete quantitative N-terminal analysis method.

Abstract

A complete quantitative N-terminal analysis (QNA) technique based on the application of dimethylaminoazobenzene isothiocyanate is described. The method allows recovery of all free N-terminal amino acids, including Asn, Gln, Trp, Ser, and Thr in quantitative yield. N-Termini of polypeptides as little as 5 pmol can be reliably and reproducibly determined by this method. This QNA method is useful in many aspects of protein structure analysis. (a) QNA is useful in assessing the purity, identity, and quantity of a polypeptide preparation. It has also been applied in our lab as a routine guarding step to prevent impure or ill-characterized samples from occupying the space of the gas-phase sequenator. (b) QNA of a trypsinized protein generates a miniaturized amino acid composition which is useful both in characterizing the identity of a protein and in comparing the homology of structurally related proteins. (c) QNA can be used to follow the pathway and preferential cleavage sites of limited proteolysis. (d) QNA is useful in characterizing selectively modified Lys and Arg residues. The details of this QNA method and the results of its applications are presented here.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

J Y Chang. 1988-05-01. A complete quantitative N-terminal analysis method.. https://doi.org/10.1016/0003-2697(88)90670-7

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related citations

Chimeric structural isomer fragments as cost-efficient internal standards for amino acid quantification by mass spectrometry.

Amino acid (AA) profiles from body fluids such as blood and urine are clinical indicators for diagnosing metabolic and hepatic diseases. Current quantitative methods, such as liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) with isotopically labelled internal standards (ISs), are costly and technically demanding. This study proposes a cost-efficient alternative using structural isomers as ISs in a direct liquid infusion (DLI) tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) approach. The method leverages chimeric spectra and fragment intensity ratios to quantify AAs, demonstrating high linearity and precision even with a 3D ion trap mass analyser. This approach offers a viable strategy for AA quantification in preventive medicine, particularly for screening metabolic diseases such as phenylketonuria, diabetes, and liver dysfunction.

Amino Acids

A practical method for uniform isotopic labeling of recombinant proteins in mammalian cells.

A method to obtain uniformly isotopically labeled (15N and 15N/13C) protein from mammalian cells is described. The method involves preparation of isotopically labeled media consisting of amino acids isolated from bacterial and algal extracts supplemented with cysteine and enzymatically synthesized glutamine. The approach is demonstrated by producing 15N-labeled and 15N/13C-labeled urokinase from Sp2/0 cells and successfully growing Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells on the labeled media. Thus, using the procedures described, isotopically labeled proteins that have been expressed in mammalian cells can be prepared, allowing them to be studied by heteronuclear multidimensional NMR techniques.

Amino Acids

A novel alpha-type fibrinogenase from Agkistrodon rhodostoma snake venom.

By means of CM-Sephadex C-50 column chromatography, gel-filtration on sephadex G-75 and Sephacryl S-200 columns, a purified fibrinogenase, kistomin, was obtained from venom of Agkistrodon rhodostoma. It was a single peptide-chain with a molecular mass of about 21,800 Da containing about 202 amino-acid residues as revealed by amino acid analysis. Kistomin preferentially cleaved A alpha- and subsequently the gamma-chain of fibrinogen, leaving the B beta-chain unaffected. Its fibrinogenolytic activity was estimated to be 36.6 +/- 4.5 mg/min per mg protein and was inhibited by the pretreatment of EDTA, suggesting that it is a metalloproteinase. Its fibrinogenolytic activity in platelet-poor plasma is much less potent as compared to that in purified fibrinogen solution. It inhibited ristocetin-induced aggregation of human platelets in a dose-dependent manner in the presence of von Willebrand factor.

Amino Acids