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

化学系的化学测量和成像计划支持阿拉巴马大学的卡罗琳·卡萨迪、大卫·迪克森和约翰·文森特教授的研究。他们的项目提高了质谱仪(MS)的灵敏度，这是一种识别和表征化学物质的常见分析工具。研究人员使用实验和计算方法来优化MS条件。该项目特别改进了多肽的MS分析。多肽被用于研究蛋白质的结构和功能。更好地鉴定和鉴定多肽的能力对基础分子生物学研究、药物开发、人类健康和生物技术都有好处。参与该项目的学生在跨学科的协作研究环境中接受指导和培训。本研究项目提高了生物分子表征的重要手段--质谱仪的灵敏度。具体地说，研究人员正在探索使用三价铬，铬(III)，以增强在多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的MS参数和确定最合适的诱导质子转移的试剂。对金属盐和金属有机络合物进行了研究。增强质子化过程的基本机制也在探索中。用高水平电子结构计算阐明了铬(III)增强质子化的机理，并确定了添加的质子在有机分子上的位置。这种新的铬(III)方法使蛋白质组学研究人员受益，他们使用MS来鉴定蛋白质消化中的多肽。更好地识别和表征多肽的能力增加了我们对生物过程的理解，并导致了针对特定代谢途径的新药物的开发。

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.