Antifreeze glycoproteins from the blood of an antarctic fish. The structure of the proline-containing glycopeptides

Prediction and analysis of antifreeze proteins

Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) are proteins that protect cellular fluids and body fluids from freezing by inhibiting the nucleation and growth of ice crystals and preventing ice recrystallization, thereby contributing to the maintenance of life in living organisms. They exist in fish, insects, microorganisms, and fungi. However, the number of known AFPs is currently limited, and it is essential to construct a reliable dataset of AFPs and develop a bioinformatics tool to predict AFPs. In this work, we first collected AFPs sequences from UniProtKB considering the reliability of annotations and, based on these datasets, developed a prediction system using random forest. We achieved accuracies of 0.961 and 0.947 for non-redundant sequences with less than 90% and 30% identities and achieved the accuracy of 0.953 for representative sequences for each species. Using the ability of random forest, we identified the sequence features that contributed to the prediction. Some sequence features were common to AFPs from different species. These features include the Cys content, Ala-Ala content, Trp-Gly content, and the amino acids' distribution related to the disorder propensity. The computer program and the dataset developed in this work are available from the GitHub site: https://github.com/ryomiya/Prediction-and-analysis-of-antifreeze-proteins.

Recent Advances in Software Tools for More Generic and Precise Intact Glycopeptide Analysis

Intact glycopeptide identification has long been known as a key and challenging barrier to the comprehensive and accurate understanding the role of glycosylation in an organism. Intact glycopeptide analysis is a blossoming field that has received increasing attention in recent years. MS-based strategies and relative software tools are major drivers that have greatly facilitated the analysis of intact glycopeptides, particularly intact N-glycopeptides. This article provides a systematic review of the intact glycopeptide-identification process using MS data generated in shotgun proteomic experiments, which typically focus on N-glycopeptide analysis. Particular attention is paid to the software tools that have been recently developed in the last decade for the interpretation and quality control of glycopeptide spectra acquired using different MS strategies. The review also provides information about the characteristics and applications of these software tools, discusses their advantages and disadvantages, and concludes with a discussion of outstanding tools.

The Essential Functions and Detection of Bisecting GlcNAc in Cell Biology

The N-glycans of mammalian glycoproteins vary greatly in structure, and the biological importance of these variations is mostly unknown. It is widely acknowledged that the bisecting N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) structure, a β1,4-linked GlcNAc attached to the core β-mannose residue, represents a special type of N-glycosylated modification, and it has been reported to be involved in various biological processes, such as cell adhesion, fertilization and fetal development, neuritogenesis, and tumor development. In particular, the occurrence of N-glycans with a bisecting GlcNAc modification on proteins has been proven, with many implications for immune biology. Due to the essential functions of bisecting GlcNAc structures, analytical approaches to this modification are highly required. The traditional approach that has been used for bisecting GlcNAc determinations is based on the lectin recognition of Phaseolus vulgaris erythroagglutinin (PHA-E); however, poor binding specificity hinders the application of this method. With the development of mass spectrometry (MS) with high resolution and improved sensitivity and accuracy, MS-based glycomic analysis has provided precise characterization and quantification for glycosylation modification. In this review, we first provide an overview of the bisecting GlcNAc structure and its biological importance in neurological systems, immune tolerance, immunoglobulin G (IgG), and tumor metastasis and development and then summarize approaches to its determination by MS for performing precise functional studies. This review is valuable for those readers who are interested in the importance of bisecting GlcNAc in cell biology.

Facile Fabrication of Biomimetic Chitosan Membrane with Honeycomb-Like Structure for Enrichment of Glycosylated Peptides

In the study of glycoproteomics with mass spectrometry, certain pretreatments of samples are required for eliminating the interference of nonglycopeptides and improving the efficiency of glycopeptides detection. Although hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) has been developed for enrichment of glycosylated peptides, a plethora of hydrophilic materials always suffered from large steric hindrance, great cost, and difficulty with modifications of high-density hydrophilic groups. In this work, a 1 mm thick biomimetic honeycomb chitosan membrane (BHCM) with honeycomb-like accessible macropores was directly prepared by the freeze-casting method as an adsorbent for HILIC. The N-glycopeptides from trypsin digests of immunoglobulin G (IgG), mixture of IgG and bovine serum albumin (BSA), and serum proteins were enriched using this material and compared with a commercial material ZIC-HILIC. The biomimetic membrane could identify as many as 32 N-glycopeptides from the IgG digest, exhibiting high sensitivity (about 50 fmol) and a wide scope for glycopeptide enrichment. A molar ratio of IgG trypsin digest to bovine serum albumin trypsin digest as low as 1/500 verified the outstanding specificity and efficiency for glycopeptide enrichment. In addition, 270 unique N-glycosylation sites of 400 unique glycopeptides from 146 glycosylated proteins were identified from the triplicate analysis of 2 μL human serum. Furthermore, 48 unique O-glycosylation sites of 278 unique O-glycopeptides were identified from the triplicate analysis of 30 μg deglycosylated fetuin digest. These results indicated that the chitosan-based membrane prepared in this work had great potential for pretreatment of samples in glycoproteomics.

Efficiency of antifreeze glycoproteins for cryopreservation of Nili-Ravi (Bubalus bubalis) buffalo bull sperm

Experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of Antarctic fish antifreeze glycoproteins, (AFGP) size 1-5 (34-10.5 kDa) and 7-8 (3.2 and 2.4 kDa) in extender on buffalo bull sperm at cooling (4 °C) and at post thawing. Semen was collected from three Nili-Ravi buffalo bulls with artificial vagina for 3 weeks. Qualifying ejaculates from each buffalo bull were diluted (at 37 °C having 50×10(6) sperm/mL) in tris-citric acid extender containing AFGP at 0 (control), 0.1, 1 and 10 μg/mL. An aliquot of diluted semen was evaluated for sperm progressive motility and plasma membrane integrity, while the remaining fraction was cooled to 4 °C in 2 h. Further, an aliquot of cooled semen was evaluated for the previously described variables and the remaining fraction was cryopreserved (-196 °C). After 24 h of storage, straws were thawed at 37 °C for 30 s to assess post-thaw sperm quality. Inclusion of AFGP in the extender did not affect (P>0.05) sperm progressive motility and plasma membrane integrity of buffalo bull sperm at cooling stage (4 °C). However, at post thawing, improvement (P<0.05) in sperm progressive motility and plasma membrane integrity was recorded in extender containing AFGP 1-5 and AFGP 7-8 at 1 μg/mL compared to the control. Percentage of live sperm with an intact acrosome remained similar (P>0.05) in extenders containing different amounts of AFGP and control. In conclusion, supplementation of 1 μg/ml of AFGP in extender improved the motility and plasma membrane integrity of Nili-Ravi buffalo sperm after thawing.

Nanoengineered glycan sensors enabling native glycoprofiling for medicinal applications: towards profiling glycoproteins without labeling or liberation steps

Nanoengineered glycan sensors may help realize the long-held goal of accurate and rapid glycoprotein profiling without labeling or glycan liberation steps. Current methods of profiling oligosaccharides displayed on protein surfaces, such as liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, capillary electrophoresis, and microarray methods, are limited by sample pretreatment and quantitative accuracy. Microarrayed platforms can be improved with methods that better estimate kinetic parameters rather than simply reporting relative binding information. These quantitative glycan sensors are enabled by an emerging class of nanoengineered materials that differ in their mode of signal transduction from traditional methods. Platforms that respond to mass changes include a quartz crystal microbalance and cantilever sensors. Electronic response can be detected from electrochemical, field effect transistor, and pore impedance sensors. Optical methods include fluorescent frontal affinity chromatography, surface plasmon resonance methods, and fluorescent carbon nanotubes. After a very brief primer on glycobiology and its connection to medicine, these emerging systems are critically reviewed for their potential use as core sensors in future glycoprofiling tools.

Antifreeze glycopeptide diastereomers

Antifreeze glycopeptides (AFGPs) are a special class of biological antifreeze agents, which possess the property to inhibit ice growth in the body fluids of arctic and antarctic fish and, thus, enable life under these harsh conditions. AFGPs are composed of 4-55 tripeptide units -Ala-Ala-Thr- glycosylated at the threonine side chains. Despite the structural homology among all the fish species, divergence regarding the composition of the amino acids occurs in peptides from natural sources. Although AFGPs were discovered in the early 1960s, the adsorption mechanism of these macromolecules to the surface of the ice crystals has not yet been fully elucidated. Two AFGP diastereomers containing different amino acid configurations were synthesized to study the influence of amino acid stereochemistry on conformation and antifreeze activity. For this purpose, peptides containing monosaccharide-substituted allo-L- and D-threonine building blocks were assembled by solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS). The retro-inverso AFGP analogue contained all amino acids in D-configuration, while the allo-L-diastereomer was composed of L-amino acids, like native AFGPs, with replacement of L-threonine by its allo-L-diastereomer. Both glycopeptides were analyzed regarding their conformational properties, by circular dichroism (CD), and their ability to inhibit ice recrystallization in microphysical experiments.

Glycoproteomics: past, present and future

This invited paper reviews the study of protein glycosylation, commonly known as glycoproteomics, beginning with the origins of the subject area in the early 1970s shortly after mass spectrometry was first applied to protein sequencing. We go on to describe current analytical approaches to glycoproteomic analyses, with exemplar projects presented in the form of the complex story of human glycodelin and the characterisation of blood group H eptitopes on the O-glycans of gp273 from Unio elongatulus. Finally, we present an update on the latest progress in the field of automated and semi-automated interpretation and annotation of these data in the form of GlycoWorkBench, a powerful informatics tool that provides valuable assistance in unravelling the complexities of glycoproteomic studies.

Analysis of high-mannose-type oligosaccharides by microliquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and capillary electrophoresis

We report on microbore liquid chromatography (microLC) and capillary electrophoresis (CE) separation of glycopeptides and high-mannose-type oligosaccharides, digested from recombinant phospholipase C, expressed in Pichia pastoris. The glycopeptides were subject to microLC/electrospray ionization/mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and microLC/ESI-tandem MS (MS/MS) analysis that revealed high-mannose structure size variation between Man(7)GlcNAc(2) and Man(14)GlcNAc(2). Then, high-performance CE was applied to identify possible positional isomers of the high-mannose structures. For the CE experiments, the oligosaccharides were released from the glycoproteins by peptide-N-glycosidase F and labeled with 1-aminopyrene-3,6,8-trisulfonic acid (APTS). Excellent separation of the possible positional isomers was attained, suggesting one for Man(9)GlcNAc(2), two for Man(10)GlcNAc(2), three for Man(11)GlcNAc(2), Man(12)GlcNAc(2), and Man(13)GlcNAc(2), and two for Man(14)GlcNAc(2). The CE results provided complementary information to the microLC/ESI-MS and MS/MS data with respect to the possible number of positional isomers.

Fully convergent solid phase synthesis of antifreeze glycoprotein analogues

The convergent solid phase synthesis of C-linked analogues of antifreeze glycoprotein (AFGP) has been achieved. In this approach, three to six carbohydrate residues are simultaneously coupled to a resin-bound polypeptide. Glycopeptides ranging from 1.6 to 3.0 kDa are easily prepared in 26-44% yield demonstrating the utility of this approach.

A general synthesis of structurally diverse building blocks for preparing analogues of C-linked antifreeze glycoproteins

A synthetic methodology to afford unusual glycoconjugate building blocks useful for the solid-phase synthesis of C-linked antifreeze glycoprotein (AFGP) analogues is described. Such compounds are urgently required in order to elucidate the molecular mechanism by which AFGPs function. All reactions are general in nature and accommodate structural variation in the carbohydrate moiety, polypeptide backbone, and amino acid side chain.

Glycoprotein structure determination by mass spectrometry

The human genome encodes 30,000 to 40,000 proteins, and a major challenge is to understand how posttranslational events, such as glycosylation, affect the activities and functions of these proteins in health and disease. Glycosylated proteins are ubiquitous components of extracellular matrices and cellular surfaces where their oligosaccharide moieties are implicated in a wide range of cell-cell and cell-matrix recognition events. The power of ultrahigh-sensitivity mass spectrometric strategies for defining the primary structures of highly complex mixtures of glycoprotein glycoforms is set to revolutionize structural glycobiology in the coming postgenomic era.

Convergent evolution of antifreeze glycoproteins in Antarctic notothenioid fish and Arctic cod

Antarctic notothenioid fishes and several northern cods are phylogenetically distant (in different orders and superorders), yet produce near-identical antifreeze glycoproteins (AFGPs) to survive in their respective freezing environments. AFGPs in both fishes are made as a family of discretely sized polymers composed of a simple glycotripeptide monomeric repeat. Characterizations of the AFGP genes from notothenioids and the Arctic cod show that their AFGPs are both encoded by a family of polyprotein genes, with each gene encoding multiple AFGP molecules linked in tandem by small cleavable spacers. Despite these apparent similarities, detailed analyses of the AFGP gene sequences and substructures provide strong evidence that AFGPs in these two polar fishes in fact evolved independently. First, although Antarctic notothenioid AFGP genes have been shown to originate from a pancreatic trypsinogen, Arctic cod AFGP genes share no sequence identity with the trypsinogen gene, indicating trypsinogen is not the progenitor. Second, the AFGP genes of the two fish have different intron-exon organizations and different spacer sequences and, thus, different processing of the polyprotein precursors, consistent with separate genomic origins. Third, the repetitive AFGP tripeptide (Thr-Ala/Pro-Ala) coding sequences are drastically different in the two groups of genes, suggesting that they arose from duplications of two distinct, short ancestral sequences with a different permutation of three codons for the same tripeptide. The molecular evidence for separate ancestry is supported by morphological, paleontological, and paleoclimatic evidence, which collectively indicate that these two polar fishes evolved their respective AFGPs separately and thus arrived at the same AFGPs through convergent evolution.

Structural analysis of the oligosaccharides derived from glycodelin, a human glycoprotein with potent immunosuppressive and contraceptive activities

Glycodelin, also known as placental protein 14 (PP14) or progesterone-associated endometrial protein (PAEP), is a human glycoprotein with potent immunosuppressive and contraceptive activities. In this paper we report the first characterization of glycodelin-derived oligosaccharides. Using strategies based upon fast atom bombardment and electrospray mass spectrometry we have established that glycodelin is glycosylated at Asn-28 and Asn-63. The Asn-28 site carries high mannose, hybrid and complex-type structures, whereas the second site is exclusively occupied by complex-type glycans. The major non-reducing epitopes in the complex-type glycans are: Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc (lacNAc), GalNAc beta 1-4GlcNAc (lacdiNAc), NeuAc alpha 2-6Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc (sialylated lacNAc), NeuAc alpha 2-6Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc (sialylated lacdiNAc), Gal beta 1-4(Fuc alpha 1-3)GlcNAc (Lewisx), and GalNAc beta 1-4(Fuc alpha 1-3)GlcNAc (lacdiNAc analogue of Lewisx). It is possible that the oligosaccharides bearing sialylated lacNAc or lacdiNAc antennae may manifest immunosuppressive effects by specifically blocking adhesive and activation-related events mediated by CD22, the human B cell associated receptor. Oligosaccharides with fucosylated lacdiNAc antennae have previously been shown to potently block selectin-mediated adhesions and may perform the same function in glycodelin. The potent inhibitory effect of glycodelin on initial human sperm-zona pellucida binding is consistent with our previous suggestion that this cell adhesion event requires a selectin-like adhesion process. This result also raises the possibility that a convergence between immune and gamete recognition processes may have occurred in the types of carbohydrate ligands recognized in the human.

FABMS/derivatisation strategies for the analysis of heparin-derived oligosaccharides

Derivatisation/FABMS strategies applicable to the structure analysis of low microgram quantities of heparin-derived oligosaccharides are described. Negative and positive FAB data from permethyl derivatives and positive FAB data from the products of subsequent methanolysis are reported for sulfated tetrasaccharides prepared by nitrous acid degradation of heparin. The preparation and FAB behaviour of acetylated derivatives of sulfated oligosaccharides are described for the first time, and the stability of the sulfate groups to base-catalysed acetylation is demonstrated. The acetylation/FABMS methodology, which yields high quality data, shows promise for the characterisation of a wide range of sulfated glycoconjugates.

Fast-atom-bombardment mass spectrometry of sulphated oligosaccharides from ovine lutropin

The positive- and negative-ion f.a.b.-mass spectra and the fragmentation of sulphated oligosaccharides derived from ovine lutropin are described. Negative-ion f.a.b.-m.s. of methylated derivatives offers a sensitive and rapid method for screening glycans for sulphation, for defining the location of sulphated residues, and for sequencing sulphated branches. Positive-ion f.a.b.-m.s. gives complementary data on non-sulphated branches in both complex and hybrid-type sulphated structures.

Hemoglobin from the Antarctic fish Notothenia coriiceps neglecta. 2. Amino acid sequence of the alpha chain of Hb1

The complete amino acid sequence of the alpha chain of the main hemoglobin of the Antarctic fish Notothenia coriiceps neglecta (family Nototheniidae) has been determined. It consists of 142 residues; an acetylated seryl residue is at the amino terminal. The molecular mass is 15,519 Da. In comparison with alpha-chain sequences of non-Antarctic poikilothermic fish hemoglobins, the homology appears to be significantly lower than that existing among the latter species. A higher homology has been found with the alpha-chain sequence of the non-poikilothermic bluefin tuna.

Egg-white and blood-serum proteins functioning by noncovalent interactions: studies by chemical modification and comparative biochemistry

Some of the more interesting and important proteins are those that function by forming associations or complexes with other substances. The structure-function relationships of three of these with very different substances are transferrins, which chelate metal ions; avian ovomucoids, which form complexes with proteolytic enzymes; and antifreeze glycoproteins, which interact at the ice-solution interface. Interrelating studies on the comparative biochemistry with studies using chemical modification have helped identify the side-chain groups of the proteins involved in function as well as to be useful for studies on general protein chemistry. The most strongly associated interaction is the chelation of iron by transferrin, with an association constant of approximately 10(21); tyrosines, histidines, and sometimes aspartate are involved. For ovomucoids, individual substratelike residues such as lysine are involved in a Michaelis-like complex, and association constants are as high as 10(10). By contrast, the antifreeze glycoproteins appear to function by a polymeric interaction at the surface of ice, with a much weaker association.

Primary and secondary structure of antifreeze peptides from arctic and antarctic zoarcid fishes

Antifreeze peptides were isolated from Rhigophila dearborni, an antarctic eel pout, and Lycodes polaris, an arctic eel pout (both from the family Zoarcidae). The primary structures of two peptides, one from each species, were determined using a combination of Edman degradation and mass spectrometric techniques. The two sequences show a high degree of homology with nearly 80% of the residues being identical. These peptides are also homologous to antifreeze peptides from a third eel pout which inhabits the north Atlantic Ocean. The CD spectra of all of these peptides are also very similar. Unlike the antifreeze peptides of cottid fishes, the structures of antifreeze peptides from zoarcid fishes appear to be highly conserved, despite the large geographic distances which separate the different species. The zoarcid peptides also appear to have structures very different from other fish antifreezes.

The mechanism of N-terminal acetylation of proteins

N alpha-acetylation is almost exclusively restricted to eukaryotic structural proteins. As a rule it is a post-initiational process, requiring the presence of the enzyme N alpha-acetyltransferase and the acetyl donor acetylcoenzyme A. N alpha-acetyltransferases appear to have a narrow substrate specificity, which is very similar for enzymes from different tissues and species. Amino acids predominantly present at the N terminus of N alpha-acetylated proteins are alanine, serine, and methionine. The occurrence of these residues is apparently a prerequisite for acetylation. The region following these amino acids is also important. If methionine is at the N terminus, the second position is always occupied by a strongly hydrophilic amino acid. Two- and three-dimensional structural characteristics of the protein do not seem to play a major role in N alpha-acetylation. Up to now the exact function for N alpha-acetylation is not known.

Specific detection of N-acetylglucosamine-containing oligosaccharide chains on ovine submaxillary asialomucin

Human milk beta-N-acetylglucosaminide beta 1 leads to 4-galactosyltransferase (EC 2.4.1.38) was used to galactosylate ovine submaxillary asialomucin to saturation. The major [14C]galactosylated product chain was obtained as a reduced oligosaccharide by beta-elimination under reducing conditions. Analysis by Bio-Gel filtration and gas-liquid chromatography indicated that this compound was a tetrasaccharide composed of galactose, N-acetylglucosamine and reduced N-acetylgalactosamine in a molar ratio of 2:0.9:0.8. Periodate oxidation studies before and after mild acid hydrolysis in addition to thin-layer chromatography revealed that the most probable structure of the tetrasaccharide is Gal beta 1 leads to 3([14C]Gal beta 1 leads to 4GlcNAc beta 1 leads to 6)GalNAcol. Thus it appears that Gal beta 1 leads to 3(GlcNAc beta 1 leads to 6)GalNAc units occur as minor chains on the asialomucin. The potential interference of these chains in the assay of alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminylprotein beta 1 leads to 3-galactosyltransferase activity using ovine submaxillary asialomucin as an acceptor can be counteracted by the addition of N-acetylglucosamine.

Relationship of amino acid composition and molecular weight of antifreeze glycopeptides to non-colligative freezing point depression

Many polar fishes synthesize a group of eight glycopeptides that exhibit a non-colligative lowering of the freezing point of water. These glycopeptides range in molecular weight between 2600 and 33 700. The largest glycopeptides [1-5] lower the freezing point more than the small ones on a weight basis and contain only two amino acids, alanine and threonine, with the disaccharide galactose-N-acetyl-galactosamine attached to threonine. The small glycopeptides, 6, 7, and 8, also lower the freezing point and contain proline, which periodically substitutes for alanine. Glycopeptides with similar antifreeze properties isolated from the saffron cod and the Atlantic tomcod contain an additional amino acid, arginine, which substitutes for threonine in glycopeptide 6. In this study we address the question of whether differences in amino acid composition or molecular weight between large and small glycopeptides are responsible for the reduced freezing point depressing capability of the low molecular weight glycopeptides. The results indicate that the degree of amino acid substitutions that occur in glycopeptides 6-8 do not have a significant effect on the unusual freezing point lowering and that the observed decrease in freezing point depression with smaller glycopeptides can be accounted for on the basis of molecular weight.

Penguin egg-white and polar fish blood-serum proteins

The development of, and findings in, a long-term research program on penguin proteins and polar fish blood proteins are described. Two of the egg-white proteins from the Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) have unique properties: a glycoprotein named penalbumin that is a major constituent with some characteristics similar to ovalbumin, and an ovomucoid with strong inhibitory capacity for subtilisin as well as for bovine trypsin and alpha-chymotrypsin. The antifreeze glycoproteins from Antarctic fish (Trematomus borchgrevinki and Dissostichus mawsoni) and an Arctic fish (Boreogadus saida) appear to function noncolligatively by lowering the freezing temperature without affecting the melting point. Current evidence indicates that the antifreeze glycoprotein functions at the ice-solution interface, either on the ice surface or in a transition layer between the solution and the ice.

Primary structure of the bovine beta-crystallin Bp chain. Internal duplication and homology with gamma-crystallin

The major polypeptide chain of bovine beta-crystallin, beta Bp, was fragmented by means of cyanogen bromide treatment and by enzymatic digestions. Manual and automated Edman degradation of the resulting peptides provided the complete amino acid sequence of the beta Bp chain. The N-terminal alanine residue was shown to be N-alpha-acetylated by mass spectrometry. The chain has a length of 204 residues and a calculated molecular weight of 23210. There is a considerable degree of homology between the N-terminal and C-terminal halves of the chain, presumably reflecting a tandem duplication of a shorter ancestral gene. The sequence of beta Bp is sufficiently related to that of gamma-crystallin II to place these proteins in the same superfamily. No sequence relationship was found with the alpha-crystallin chains.

Sequence analysis of polypeptides by collision activated dissociation on a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer

A new approach to the direct sequencing of oligopeptides in complex mixtures is described. Mixtures of [2Ho]/[2H3]-N-acetylated and N,O-permethylated peptides are analyzed by collision activate dissociation on a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer using isobutane chemical ionization. Analysis of the collision activated dissociation spectra enables peptide sequences to be deduced. Use of electron capture negative chemical ionization for the sequence analysis of neuropeptides at the picomole level is also described.

Biomolecular structure determination by mass spectrometry

Mass spectometry, conventionally used with smallish molecules (less than 1,000 daltons), has suprisingly emerged as a powerful technique for the determination of the amino acid sequences of proteins and the structure of glycopeptides as well as for the characterization of biologically active materials of unusual structure such as the peptidolipids. Further applications to biomedical problems are foreseen.