Transition metals as electron traps. I. Structures, energetics, electron capture, and electron-transfer-induced dissociations of ternary copper-peptide complexes in the gas phase

Neutral Peptides in the Gas Phase: Conformation and Aggregation Issues

Combined IR and UV laser spectroscopic techniques in molecular beams merged with theoretical approaches have proven to be an ideal tool to elucidate intrinsic structural properties on a molecular level. It offers the possibility to analyze structural changes, in a controlled molecular environment, when successively adding aggregation partners. By this, it further makes these techniques a valuable starting point for a bottom-up approach in understanding the forces shaping larger molecular systems. This bottom-up approach was successfully applied to neutral amino acids starting around the 1990s. Ever since, experimental and theoretical methods developed further, and investigations could be extended to larger peptide systems. Against this background, the review gives an introduction to secondary structures and experimental methods as well as a summary on theoretical approaches. Vibrational frequencies being characteristic probes of molecular structure and interactions are especially addressed. Archetypal biologically relevant secondary structures investigated by molecular beam spectroscopy are described, and the influences of specific peptide residues on conformational preferences as well as the competition between secondary structures are discussed. Important influences like microsolvation or aggregation behavior are presented. Beyond the linear α-peptides, the main results of structural analysis on cyclic systems as well as on β- and γ-peptides are summarized. Overall, this contribution addresses current aspects of molecular beam spectroscopy on peptides and related species and provides molecular level insights into manifold issues of chemical and biochemical relevance.

Intramolecular platinum migration on a peptide in gas phase during collision-induced dissociation

We report the migration of platinum ligand unit {Pt(en)}₂ (en = ethylenediamine) on a short peptide during collision-induced dissociation fragmentation combined with the characterization of the same species by 2D [¹H,¹⁵N] HSQC (Heteronuclear Single Quantum Coherence) NMR spectroscopy. The NMR spectrum showed that the cysteine is platinated while the MS/MS (Tandem mass spectrometry) showed the platination at glutamic acid. Our results provide the first experimental evidence of platinum migration on peptide during collision-induced dissociation.

Difference of Electron Capture and Transfer Dissociation Mass Spectrometry on Ni(2+)-, Cu(2+)-, and Zn(2+)-Polyhistidine Complexes in the Absence of Remote Protons

Electron capture dissociation (ECD) and electron transfer dissociation (ETD) in metal-peptide complexes are dependent on the metal cation in the complex. The divalent transition metals Ni(2+), Cu(2+), and Zn(2+) were used as charge carriers to produce metal-polyhistidine complexes in the absence of remote protons, since these metal cations strongly bind to neutral histidine residues in peptides. In the case of the ECD and ETD of Cu(2+)-polyhistidine complexes, the metal cation in the complex was reduced and the recombination energy was redistributed throughout the peptide to lead a zwitterionic peptide form having a protonated histidine residue and a deprotonated amide nitrogen. The zwitterion then underwent peptide bond cleavage, producing a and b fragment ions. In contrast, ECD and ETD induced different fragmentation processes in Zn(2+)-polyhistidine complexes. Although the N-Cα bond in the Zn(2+)-polyhistidine complex was cleaved by ETD, ECD of Zn(2+)-polyhistidine induced peptide bond cleavage accompanied with hydrogen atom release. The different fragmentation modes by ECD and ETD originated from the different electronic states of the charge-reduced complexes resulting from these processes. The details of the fragmentation processes were investigated by density functional theory. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.

Dissociation of trivalent metal ion (Al(3+), Ga(3+), In(3+) and Rh(3+))--peptide complexes under electron capture dissociation conditions

RATIONALE

The electron capture dissociation (ECD) of proteins/peptides is affected by the nature of charge carrier. It has been reported that transition metal ions could tune the ECD pathway of peptides. To further explore the charge carrier effect of metal ions, ECD of peptides adducted with trivalent transition metal ions, including group IIIB (Al(3+), Ga(3+), and In(3+) ) and Rh(3+), were investigated and compared with that of the lanthanide ion (Ln(3+)).

METHODS

Bradykinin-derived peptides were used as model peptides to probe the dissociation pathways. The ECD experiments were performed on a Bruker APEX III 4.7T Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR) mass spectrometer.

RESULTS

Typical c-/z-ions with and without metal ions were observed in the ECD of peptides adducted with Group IIIB metal ions as charge carriers. Connection of non-metalated c-ions and metalated z-ions at the position of the serine residue indicated that serine is one of the binding sites of the metal ion on the model peptides. Typical slow heating ions, including metalated a-/b-ions and non-metalated y-ions, were generated in ECD of Rh(3+) -adducted peptides.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the experimental results, it is proposed that (i) for Group IIIB metal ion-peptide complexes, the incoming electron is captured by the proton in the salt-bridge structures of precursor ions; (ii) for Rh(3+) -peptide complexes, the incoming electron is captured by the metal ion due to the formation of charge-solvated precursor ions formed through arginine residue-metal coordination. Our results indicate that the heterogeneity of precursor ions plays an important role for the ECD of metalated peptides.

N-Cα Bond Cleavage of Zinc-Polyhistidine Complexes in Electron Transfer Dissociation Mediated by Zwitterion Formation: Experimental Evidence and Theoretical Analysis of the Utah-Washington Model

Electron capture dissociation (ECD) and electron transfer dissociation (ETD) of gas-phase ions are widely used for peptide/protein sequencing by mass spectrometry. To understand the general mechanism of ECD/ETD of peptides, we focused on the ETD fragmentation of metal-peptide complexes in the absence of remote protons. Since Zn(2+) strongly binds to neutral histidine residues in peptides, Zn(2+)-polyhistidine complexation does not generate any remote protons. However, in the absence of remote protons, electron transfer to the Zn(2+)-polyhistidine complex induced the N-Cα bond cleavage. The formation pathway for the ETD products was investigated by density functional theory calculations. The calculations showed that the charge-reduced zinc-peptide radical, [M + Zn](•+), can exist in the low-energy zwitterionic amide π* states, which underwent homolytic N-Cα bond dissociation. The homolytic cleavage resulted in the donation of an electron from the N-Cα bond to the nitrogen atom, producing an iminoenol c' anion. The counterpart z(•) radical contained a radical site on the α-carbon atom. The iminoenol c' anion then abstracted a proton to presumably form the more stable amide c' fragment. The current experimental and computational joint study strongly suggested that the N-Cα bond cleavage occurred through the aminoketyl radical-anion formation for Zn(2+)-polyhistidine complexes in ETD.

Structures and unimolecular chemistry of M(Pro2-H)+(M = Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn) by IRMPD spectroscopy, SORI-CID, and theoretical studies

M(Pro₂-H)⁺complexes were electrosprayed and isolated in an FTICR cell where their unimolecular chemistries and structures were explored using SORI-CID and IRMPD spectroscopy.

Effect of structural parameters on the electron capture dissociation and collision-induced dissociation pathways of copper(II)-peptide complexes

The gas-phase dissociation pathways of proteins/peptides are usually affected by the nature of the charge carrier and the sequence of amino acid residues. The effects of peptide structural parameters, including peptide composition, chain length and amide hydrogen, on the gas-phase dissociation of Cu(II)-model peptide complexes were explored in this study. Polyglycine peptides with flexible frames were used as probes to reduce the complexity of the system and illustrate the mechanism. Results revealed that the types of fragment ions generated in the electron capture dissociation (ECD) of Cu(II)-adducted peptides changed according to the basic amino acid residue composition. Charged or neutral tryptophan side-chain losses were observed in the collision-induced dissociation (CID) of Cu(II)-peptide complexes. Internal electron transfer between tryptophan and metal ion within the complex occurred during the CID reaction, leaving the charge-reduced Cu(+) as a closed d-shell stable electron configuration. The choice of the reaction channel was then determined by the gas-phase basicity of the peptide. Amide hydrogen was critical in the formation of metalated b-/y-ions in the ECD process as determined through mutation of the backbone amide group. Increasing the chain length suppressed the ECD of Cu-metalated peptide species. Our results indicate that the structural parameters of peptides play important roles in the gas-phase dissociation processes of Cu-peptide complexes.

Insights into the binding sites of organometallic ruthenium anticancer compounds on peptides using ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry

The binding sites of two ruthenium(II) organometallic complexes of the form [(η(6)-arene)Ru(N,N)Cl](+), where arene/N,N = biphenyl (bip)/bipyridine (bipy) for complex AH076, and biphenyl (bip)/o-phenylenediamine (o-pda) for complex AH078, on the peptides angiotensin and bombesin have been investigated using Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR) mass spectrometry. Fragmentation was performed using collisionally activated dissociation (CAD), with, in some cases, additional data being provided by electron capture dissociation (ECD). The primary binding sites were identified as methionine and histidine, with further coordination to phenylalanine, potentially through a π-stacking interaction, which has been observed here for the first time. This initial peptide study was expanded to investigate protein binding through reaction with insulin, on which the binding sites proposed are histidine, glutamic acid, and tyrosine. Further reaction of the ruthenium complexes with the oxidized B chain of insulin, in which two cysteine residues are oxidized to cysteine sulfonic acid (Cys-SO3H), and glutathione, which had been oxidized with hydrogen peroxide to convert the cysteine to cysteine sulfonic acid, provided further support for histidine and glutamic acid binding, respectively.

Electron capture dissociation of trivalent metal ion-peptide complexes

With electrospray ionization from aqueous solutions, trivalent metal ions readily adduct to small peptides resulting in formation of predominantly (peptide + M(T) - H)(2+), where M(T) = La, Tm, Lu, Sm, Ho, Yb, Pm, Tb, or Eu, for peptides with molecular weights below ~1000 Da, and predominantly (peptide + M(T))(3+) for larger peptides. ECD of (peptide + M(T) - H)(2+) results in extensive fragmentation from which nearly complete sequence information can be obtained, even for peptides for which only singly protonated ions are formed in the absence of the metal ions. ECD of these doubly charged complexes containing M(T) results in significantly higher electron capture efficiency and sequence coverage than peptide-divalent metal ion complexes that have the same net charge. Formation of salt-bridge structures in which the metal ion coordinates to a carboxylate group are favored even for (peptide + M(T))(3+). ECD of these latter complexes for large peptides results in electron capture by the protonation site located remotely from the metal ion and predominantly c/z fragments for all metals, except Eu(3+), which undergoes a one electron reduction and only loss of small neutral molecules and b/y fragments are formed. These results indicate that solvation of the metal ion in these complexes is extensive, which results in the electrochemical properties of these metal ions being similar in both the peptide environment and in bulk water.

Formation of Ternary Complexes of Iron(III) Cations in Solution and Gas Phase

Formation of labile 1 : 1 : 1 ternary mononuclear complexes of iron(iii) cation with η3-terdentate meridional binders was studied using electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) titration and UV-Vis titration in solution phase. Low selectivities towards formation of ternary heteroleptic complexes in the solution phase vs. symmetric 2 : 1 complexes were obtained with combinations of dianionic 2,6-bis[hydroxy(methyl)amino]-1,3,5-triazine (BHT) ligands with monoanionic terdentate ligands such as 2-[(2-pyridinylmethylene)amino]phenol. Moderate selectivities were observed in formation of ternary iron(iii) complexes of iron(iii) between BHT ligands and neutral terdentate ligands such as pyridin-2-ylmethylpyridin-2-ylmethyleneamine. Results obtained by MS titrations were in a reasonable agreement with UV titration data indicating that quantitative ESI MS spectrometry can be applied to these labile iron(iii) complexes.

Reaction pathways of Sc+ (3D, 1D) and Fe+ (6D, 4F) with acetone in the gas phase: metal ion oxidation and acetone deethanization

The reactions of Sc(+) ((3)D, (1)D) and Fe(+) ((6)D, (4)F) with acetone have been investigated in both high- and low-spin states using density functional theory. Our calculations have indicated that oxidation of Sc(+) by acetone can take place by (1) metal-mediated H migration, (2) direct methyl-H shift and/or (3) C=O insertion. The most energetically favorable pathway is metal-mediated H migration followed by intramolecular ScO(+) rotation and dissociation. For the deethanization of acetone mediated by Fe(+), the reaction occurs on either the quartet or sextet surfaces through five elementary steps, i.e. encounter complexation, C-C bond activation, methyl migration, C-C coupling and non-reactive dissociation. The rate-determining step along the quartet-state potential-energy surface (PES) is similar to that in the case of Ni(+) ((2)F, 3d(9)), namely the methyl-migration step. For the sextet-state PES, however, the energy barrier for methyl migration is lower than that for C-C bond activation, and the rate-determining step is C-C coupling. In general, the low-spin-state pathways are lower in energy than the high-spin-state pathways; therefore, the reaction pathways for the oxidation of Sc(+) and the Fe(+)-mediated deethanization of acetone mostly involve the low-spin states.

Tunable charge tags for electron-based methods of peptide sequencing: design and applications

Charge tags using basic auxiliary functional groups 6-aminoquinolinylcarboxamido, 4-aminopyrimidyl-1-methylcarboxamido, 2-aminobenzoimidazolyl-1-methylcarboxamido, and the fixed-charge 4-(dimethylamino)pyridyl-1-carboxamido moiety are evaluated as to their properties in electron transfer dissociation mass spectra of arginine C-terminated peptides. The neutral tags have proton affinities that are competitive with those of amino acid residues in peptides. Charge reduction by electron transfer from fluoranthene anion-radicals results in peptide backbone dissociations that improve sequence coverage by providing extensive series of N-terminal c-type fragments without impeding the formation of C-terminal z fragments. Comparison of ETD mass spectra of free and tagged peptides allows one to resolve ambiguities in fragment ion assignment through mass shifts of c ions. Simple chemical procedures are reported for N-terminal tagging of Arg-containing tryptic peptides.

Gas-phase doubly charged complexes of cyclic peptides with copper in +1, +2 and +3 formal oxidation states: formation, structures and electron capture dissociation

Copper complexes with a cyclic D-His-β-Ala-L-His-L-Lys and all-L-His-β-Ala-His-Lys peptides were generated by electrospray which were doubly charged ions that had different formal oxidation states of Cu(I), Cu(II) and Cu(III) and different protonation states of the peptide ligands. Electron capture dissociation showed no substantial differences between the D-His and L-His complexes. All complexes underwent peptide cross-ring cleavages upon electron capture. The modes of ring cleavage depended on the formal oxidation state of the Cu ion and peptide protonation. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations, using the B3LYP with an effective core potential at Cu and M06-2X functionals, identified several precursor ion structures in which the Cu ion was threecoordinated to pentacoordinated by the His and Lys side-chain groups and the peptide amide or enolimine groups. The electronic structure of the formally Cu(III) complexes pointed to an effective Cu(I) oxidation state with the other charge residing in the peptide ligand. The relative energies of isomeric complexes of the [Cu(c-HAHK + H)](2+) and [Cu(c-HAHK - H)](2+) type with closed electronic shells followed similar orders when treated by the B3LYP and M06-2X functionals. Large differences between relative energies calculated by these methods were obtained for open-shell complexes of the [Cu(c-HAHK)](2+) type. Charge reduction resulted in lowering the coordination numbers for some Cu complexes that depended on the singlet or triplet spin state being formed. For [Cu(c-HAHK - H)](2+) complexes, solution H/D exchange involved only the N-H protons, resulting in the exchange of up to seven protons, as established by ultra-high mass resolution measurements. Contrasting the experiments, DFT calculations found the lowest energy structures for the gas-phase ions that were deprotonated at the peptide C(α) positions.

Coordination sphere tuning of the electron transfer dissociation behavior of Cu(II)-peptide complexes

In contrast to previous electron capture dissociation (ECD) studies, we find that electron transfer dissociation (ETD) of Cu(II)-peptide complexes can generate c- and z-type product ions when the peptide has a sufficient number of strongly coordinating residues. Double-resonance experiments, ion-molecule reactions, and collision-induced dissociation (CID) prove that the c and z product ions are formed via typical radical pathways without the associated reduction of Cu(II), despite the high second ionization energy of Cu. A positive correlation between the number of Cu(II) binding groups in the peptide sequence and the extent of c and z ion formation was also observed. This trend is rationalized by considering that the recombination energy of Cu(II) can be lowered by strong binding ligands to an extent that enables electron transfer to non-Cu sites (e.g., protonation sites) to compete with Cu(II) reduction, thereby generating c/z ions in a manner similar to that observed for protonated (i.e., nonmetalated) peptides.

Use of top-down and bottom-up Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry for mapping calmodulin sites modified by platinum anticancer drugs

Calmodulin (CaM) is a highly conserved, ubiquitous, calcium-binding protein; it binds to and regulates many different protein targets, thereby functioning as a calcium sensor and signal transducer. CaM contains 9 methionine (Met), 1 histidine (His), 17 aspartic acid (Asp), and 23 glutamine acid (Glu) residues, all of which can potentially react with platinum compounds; thus, one-third of the CaM sequence is a possible binding target of platinum anticancer drugs, which represents a major challenge for identification of specific platinum modification sites. Here, top-down electron capture dissociation (ECD) was used to elucidate the transition metal-platinum(II) modification sites. By using a combination of top-down and bottom-up mass spectrometric (MS) approaches, 10 specific binding sites for mononuclear complexes, cisplatin and [Pt(dien)Cl]Cl, and dinuclear complex [{cis-PtCl(2)(NH(3))}(2)(μ-NH(2)(CH(2))(4)NH(2))] on CaM were identified. High resolution MS of cisplatin-modified CaM revealed that cisplatin mainly targets Met residues in solution at low molar ratios of cisplatin-CaM (2:1), by cross-linking Met residues. At a high molar ratio of cisplatin:CaM (8:1), up to 10 platinum(II) bind to Met, Asp, and Glu residues. [{cis-PtCl(2)(NH(3))}(2)(μ-NH(2)(CH(2))(4)NH(2))] forms mononuclear adducts with CaM. The alkanediamine linker between the two platinum centers dissociates due to a trans-labilization effect. [Pt(dien)Cl]Cl forms {Pt(dien)}(2+) adducts with CaM, and the preferential binding sites were identified as Met51, Met71, Met72, His107, Met109, Met124, Met144, Met145, Glu45 or Glu47, and Asp122 or Glu123. The binding of these complexes to CaM, particularly when binding involves loss of all four original ligands, is largely irreversible which could result in their failure to reach the target DNA or be responsible for unwanted side-effects during chemotherapy. Additionally, the cross-linking of cisplatin to CaM might lead to the loss of the biological function of CaM or CaM-Ca(2+) due to limiting the flexibility of the CaM or CaM-Ca(2+) complex to recognize target proteins or blocking the binding region of target proteins to CaM.

Transition metal ions: charge carriers that mediate the electron capture dissociation pathways of peptides

Electron capture dissociation (ECD) of model peptides adducted with first row divalent transition metal ions, including Mn(2+), Fe(2+), Co(2+), Ni(2+), Cu(2+), and Zn(2+), were investigated. Model peptides with general sequence of ZGGGXGGGZ were used as probes to unveil the ECD mechanism of metalated peptides, where X is either V or W; and Z is either R or N. Peptides metalated with different divalent transition metal ions were found to generate different ECD tandem mass spectra. ECD spectra of peptides metalated by Mn(2+) and Zn(2+) were similar to those generated by ECD of peptides adducted with alkaline earth metal ions. Series of c-/z-type fragment ions with and without metal ions were observed. ECD of Fe(2+), Co(2+), and Ni(2+) adducted peptides yielded abundant metalated a-/y-type fragment ions; whereas ECD of Cu(2+) adducted peptides generated predominantly metalated b-/y-type fragment ions. From the present experimental results, it was postulated that electronic configuration of metal ions is an important factor in determining the ECD behavior of the metalated peptides. Due presumably to the stability of the electronic configuration, metal ions with fully-filled (i.e., Zn(2+)) and half filled (i.e., Mn(2+)) d-orbitals might not capture the incoming electron. Dissociation of the metal ions adducted peptides would proceed through the usual ECD channel(s) via "hot-hydrogen" or "superbase" intermediates, to form series of c-/z(•)- fragments. For other transition metal ions studied, reduction of the metal ions might occur preferentially. The energy liberated by the metal ion reduction would provide enough internal energy to generate the "slow-heating" type of fragment ions, i.e., metalated a-/y- fragments and metalated b-/y- fragments.

Formation of peptide radical cations (m+·) in electron capture dissociation of peptides adducted with group IIB metal ions

Peptides adducted with different divalent Group IIB metal ions (Zn(2+), Cd(2+), and Hg(2+)) were found to give very different ECD mass spectra. ECD of Zn(2+) adducted peptides gave series of c-/z-type fragment ions with and without metal ions. ECD of Cd(2+) and Hg(2+) adducted model peptides gave mostly a-type fragment ions with M(+•) and fragment ions corresponding to losses of neutral side chain from M(+•). No detectable a-ions could be observed in ECD spectra of Zn(2+) adducted peptides. We rationalized the present findings by invoking both proton-electron recombination and metal-ion reduction processes. As previously postulated, divalent metal-ions adducted peptides could adopt several forms, including (a) [M + Cat](2+), (b) [(M + Cat - H) + H](2+), and (c) [(M + Cat - 2H) + 2H](2+). The relative population of these precursor ions depends largely on the acidity of the metal-ion peptide complexes. Peptides adducted with divalent metal-ions of small ionic radii (i.e., Zn(2+)) would form predominantly species (b) and (c); whereas peptides adducted with metal ions of larger ionic radii (i.e., Hg(2+)) would adopt predominantly species (a). Species (b) and (c) are believed to be essential for proton-electron recombination process to give c-/z-type fragments via the labile ketylamino radical intermediates. Species (c) is particularly important for the formation of non-metalated c-/z-type fragments. Without any mobile protons, species (a) are believed to undergo metal ion reduction and subsequently induce spontaneous electron transfer from the peptide moiety to the charge-reduced metal ions. Depending on the exothermicity of the electron transfer reaction, the peptide radical cations might be formed with substantial internal energy and might undergo further dissociation to give structural related fragment ions.

Electron predators are hydrogen atom traps. Effects of aryl groups on N-C(α) bond dissociations of peptide radicals

Effects of substituted aryl groups on dissociations of peptide aminoketyl radicals were studied computationally for model tetrapeptide intermediates GXD(•) G where X was a cysteine residue that was derivatized by S-(3-nitrobenzyl), S-(3-cyanobenzyl), S-(3,5-dicyanobenzyl), S-(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobenzyl), and S-benzyl groups. The aminoketyl radical was placed within the Asp amide group. Aminoketyl radicals having the S-(3-nitrobenzyl) group were found to undergo spontaneous and highly exothermic migration of the hydroxyl hydrogen atom onto the nitro group in conformers allowing interaction between these groups. Competing reaction channels were investigated for aminoketyl radicals having the S-(3-cyanobenzyl) and S-(3,5-dicyanobenzyl) groups, e.g. H-atom migration to the C and N atoms of the C≡N group, migration to the C-4 position of the phenyl ring, and dissociation of the radical-activated NC(α) bond between the Asp and Gly residues. RRKM kinetic analysis on the combined B3LYP and ROMP2/6-311++G(2d,p) potential energy surface indicated > 99% H-atom transfer to the C≡N group forming a stable iminyl intermediate. The NC(α) bond dissociation was negligible. In contrast, peptides with the S-(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobenzyl) and S-benzyl groups showed preferential NC(α) bond dissociation that outcompeted H-atom migration to the C-4 position and fluorine substituents in the phenyl ring. These computational results are used to suggest an alternative mechanism for the quenching effect on electron-based peptide backbone dissociations of benzyl groups with electron-withdrawing substitutents, as reported recently.

Electron capture dissociation mass spectrometry of metallo-supramolecular complexes

The electron capture dissociation (ECD) of metallo-supramolecular dinuclear triple-stranded helicate Fe(2)L(3)(4+) ions was determined by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. Initial electron capture by the di-iron(II) triple helicate ions produces dinuclear double-stranded complexes analogous to those seen in solution with the monocationic metal centers Cu(I) or Ag(I). The gas-phase fragmentation behavior [ECD, collision-induced dissociation (CID), and infrared multiphoton dissociation (IRMPD)] of the di-iron double-stranded complexes, (i.e., MS(3) of the ECD product) was compared with the ECD, CID, and IRMPD of the Cu(I) and Ag(I) complexes generated from solution. The results suggest that iron-bound dimers may be of the form Fe(I)(2)L(2)(2+) and that ECD by metallo-complexes allows access, in the gas phase, to oxidation states and coordination chemistry that cannot be accessed in solution.

On the charge partitioning between c and z fragments formed after electron-capture induced dissociation of charge-tagged Lys-Lys and Ala-Lys dipeptide dications

Here we report on the charge partition between c and z fragments formed after femtosecond collisional electron-transfer from Cs atoms to charge-tagged peptide dications. Peptides chosen for study were Ala-Lys (AK) and Lys-Lys (KK) where one or both of the lysine epsilon-amino groups were trimethylated to provide one or two fixed charges. For peptides with only one charge tag, the other charge was obtained by protonation of an amino group. In some experiments the ammonium group was tagged by 18-crown-6-ether (CE). Since recombination energies decrease in the order: MeNH3+ > NMe4+ > MeNH3+(CE) > NMe4+(CE), it is possible to change the probability for the transferred electron to end up at either the N-terminal or the C-terminal residue by CE attachment. We find, however, that the individual recombination energies have little influence on the relative ratio between the yield of c and z ions as long as there are no mobile protons that can be transferred between the two fragments. Our results can be accounted for by the Utah-Washington model where the electron is captured into an amide pi* orbital that weakens the N-C(alpha) bond and causes its breakage, followed by proton, electron, or hydrogen transfer between the c and z fragments that stay together as an ion-molecule complex for some time. The data are also in accordance with the notion that an amide group competes with the charged groups for the electron. Electron capture by charged groups results in loss of small neutrals such as hydrogen and ammonia.

Comparison of collision- versus electron-induced dissociation of Pt(II) ternary complexes of histidine- and methionine-containing peptides

Incubation of the histidine-containing peptides (GH, HG, GGH, GHG, HGG) and methionine-containing peptides (GM, MG, GGM, GMG, MGG) with the platinum complexes [Pt(terpy)Cl](+) (A) and [Pt(dien)Cl](+) (B) followed by electrospray ionisation (ESI) led to a number of singly and doubly charged ternary platinum peptide complexes, including [Pt(L)M](2+) and [Pt(L)M-H](+) (where L = the ligand terpy or dien; M is a peptide). Each of the [Pt(L)M](2+) complexes was subjected to electron capture dissociation (ECD), collision-induced dissociation (CID) and electron-induced dissociation (EID), while each of the [Pt(L)M-H](+) complexes was subjected to CID and EID. Results from ECD suggest that the free electron is captured by the metal ion thus weakening the bonds to its ligands. In the case of the ligand terpy, which binds more strongly than dien, this weakening leads to the loss of the peptide. The minor products in the ECD spectra of [Pt(terpy)M](2+) complexes do show fragmentation along the peptide backbone, but the ions observed are of the a-, b-, and y-type. For the complexes with methionine-containing peptides, a marker ion, [Pt(L)SCH(3)](+), was found which is indicative of binding of Pt to the methionine side chain. For the histidine-containing peptides, an ion containing platinum, the auxiliary ligand, and the histidine imine was observed in many instances, thus indicating the binding of the histidine side chain to the metal, but other modes of Pt coordination (N-terminus) were also found to be competitive. These findings are consistent with a recent finding (Sze et al. J. Biol. Inorg. Chem. 2009; 14: 163) that Pt occupies the methionine-rich copper(I)-binding site rather than histidine-rich copper(II)-binding site in the CopC protein.

Transition metals as electron traps. II. Structures, energetics and electron transfer dissociations of ternary Co, Ni and Zn-peptide complexes in the gas phase

Transition metal cations Co2+, Ni2+ and Zn2+ form 1 : 1 : 1 ternary complexes with 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy) and peptides in aqueous methanol solutions that have been studied for tripeptides GGG and GGL. Electrospray ionization of these solutions produced singly charged [Metal(bpy)(peptide-H)]+ and doubly charged [Metal(bpy)(peptide)]2+ ions (Metal = metal ion) that underwent charge reduction by glancing collisions with Cs atoms at 50 and 100 keV collision energies. Electron transfer to [Metal(bpy)(peptide)]2+ ions was less than 4.2 eV exoergic and formed abundant fractions of non-dissociated charge-reduced intermediates. Charge-reduced [Metal(bpy)(peptide)]+ ions dissociated by the loss of a hydrogen atom, ammonia, water and ligands that depended on the metal ion. The Ni and Co complexes mainly dissociated by the elimination of ammonia, water, and the peptide ligand. The Zn complex dissociated by the elimination of ammonia and bpy. A sequence-specific fragment was observed only for the Co complex. Electron transfer to [Metal(bpy)(peptide-H)]+ was 0.6-1.6 eV exoergic and formed intermediate radicals that were detected as stable anions after a second electron transfer from Cs. [Metal(bpy)(peptide-H)] neutrals and their anions dissociated by the loss of bpy and peptide ligands with branching ratios that depended on the metal ion. Optimized structures for several spin states, electron transfer and dissociation energies were addressed by combined density functional theory and Møller-Plesset perturbational calculations to aid interpretation of experimental data. The experimentally observed ligand loss and backbone cleavage in charge-reduced [Metal(bpy)(peptide)]+ complexes correlated with the dissociation energies at the present level of theory. The ligand loss in +CR- spectra showed overlap of dissociations in charge-reduced [Metal(bpy)(peptide-H)] complexes and their anionic counterparts which complicated spectra interpretation and correlation with calculated dissociation energies.