Use of Chromium(III) to Enhance the Protonation of Biomolecules by Mass Spectrometry

化学部的化学测量和成像计划支持来自亚拉巴马大学的Carolyn Cassady、大卫狄克逊和John Vincent教授的研究。他们的项目提高了质谱（MS）的灵敏度，质谱是识别和表征化学物质的常用分析工具。研究人员使用实验和计算方法来优化MS条件。该项目专门改进了肽的MS分析。 肽用于蛋白质结构和功能的研究。更好地识别和表征肽的能力有利于基础分子生物学研究、药物开发、人类健康和生物技术。从事该项目的学生在跨学科的合作研究环境中接受指导和培训。该研究项目提高了质谱（MS）的灵敏度，这是表征生物分子的重要手段。 具体来说，研究人员正在探索使用三价铬，Cr（III），以增强在肽和其他有机分子分析过程中获得的质子化离子信号的强度。这项工作包括优化实验MS参数和确定最合适的试剂诱导质子转移。金属盐和有机金属配合物进行了研究。增强质子化过程的基本机制也正在探索中。高层次的电子结构计算用于阐明增强的质子化机制与铬（III），并确定添加的质子的有机分子上的位置。这种新的Cr（III）方法有利于蛋白质组学研究人员使用MS来识别蛋白质组中的肽。更好地识别和表征肽的能力增加了我们对生物过程的理解，并导致开发针对特定代谢途径的新药物。

The Chemical Measurement and Imaging program of the Division of Chemistry supports the research of Professors Carolyn Cassady, David Dixon, and John Vincent from the University of Alabama. Their project improves the sensitivity of mass spectrometry (MS), which is a common analytical tool for identifying and characterizing chemical substances. The researchers use experimental and computational approaches to optimize MS conditions. This project specifically improves MS analysis of peptides. Peptides are used in the study of protein structure and function. The ability to better identify and characterize peptides has benefits for basic molecular biology research, drug development, human health, and biotechnology. Students working on this project receive mentoring and training in an interdisciplinary, collaborative research environment. This research project improves the sensitivity of mass spectrometry (MS), an important means of characterizing biomolecules. Specifically, the researchers are probing the use of trivalent chromium, Cr(III), to enhance the intensity of the protonated ion signal obtained during the analysis of peptides and other organic molecules. This work includes optimization of experimental MS parameters and determination of the most suitable reagents for inducing proton transfer. Both metal salts and organometallic complexes are studied. The fundamental mechanism of the enhanced protonation process is also being explored. High level electronic structure calculations are used to elucidate the enhanced protonation mechanism with Cr(III) and to determine the locations of the added protons on the organic molecule. This novel Cr(III) method benefits proteomic researchers who use MS to identify peptides in protein digests. The ability to better identify and characterize peptides increases our understanding of biological processes and leads to the development of new pharmaceutical drugs to target specific metabolic pathways.