Fast atom bombardment mass spectrometric analysis of arginine-containing neuropeptides

Proteinergic profiles in cerebrospinal fluid from alcoholic subjects

Minute amounts of cerebrospinal fluid samples from alcoholics were subjected to separation by HPLC-molecular sieving, combined with multispectral UV analysis of the acquired data. A significant difference in the protein/polypeptide pattern within the molecular weight range of 7-10 kDa has been observed between samples, taken directly after detoxification and 2 weeks later. Spectral analysis of the results suggests that the components are of peptidergic nature. On the other hand, albumin content did not differ significantly, suggesting that the blood-brain barrier was not affected. An enzyme marker, dynorphin converting enzyme, remained unchanged in both groups.

Protein surface topology-probing by selective chemical modification and mass spectrometric peptide mapping

Aminoacetylation of lysine residues and the modification of arginine by 1,2-cyclohexanedione to N7,N8-(dihydroxy-1,2-cyclohexylidene)arginine were used for probing the surface topology of hen-eggwhite lysozyme as a model protein. The molecular identification of lysine and arginine modification sites was provided by molecular weight determinations of modified and unmodified tryptic peptide mixtures (peptide mapping) using 252Cf plasma desorption mass spectrometry. At conditions of limited chemical modification, mass-spectrometric peptide-mapping analyses of lysozyme derivatives enabled the direct assignment of relative reactivities of lysine and arginine residues at different reaction times and reagent concentrations. The relative reactivities of lysine residues showed a direct correlation with their surface accessibilities from x-ray structure data. For the reaction with 1,2-cyclohexanedione, a selective modification at Arg-5, -125, -112, and -73 was identified, and an inverse correlation of relative reactivities with the surface accessibility ratios of the N7- and the N8-guanidino functions was obtained. By examination of the x-ray structural data of lysozyme, this selective modification was attributed to intramolecular catalysis because of the presence of neighboring proton acceptor groups, such as the Asp-119 carboxylate group for Arg-125 and the Trp-123 and Arg-125 carbonyl groups for Arg-5.

Application of photodiode array detection and fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry for the identification of the arginine residue in neuropeptides

Chemical derivatization by phenylglyoxal (PGX) was applied to the identification of arginine in the neuropeptides dynorphin A (1-6) and substance P. The obtained products were separated on a short reversed phase C18 column and analysed on-line with the photodiode array UV technique. The selective attachment of a chromogenic molecule into the arginine residue resulted in significant change in the absorbance spectra around 250 nm, depending on the number of PGX molecules attracted. Further analysis employed fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FAB MS) and C-terminal sequencing for detailed verification of the derivatives formed during modification with PGX. The results clearly demonstrated that the photodiode array technique, when combined with chemical modification of certain amino acids, provides new possibilities for the analysis of peptide structures.