Applications of Biomolecular Ion Photofragmentation

在化学测量和成像计划的支持下，印第安纳大学的詹姆斯·赖利教授和他的团队正在寻找改进利用质谱学进行多肽结构分析的方法。在Reilly方法中，多肽离子被高能紫外光光解，而不是传统的碰撞碎裂。由此产生的数据被发现在某种程度上依赖于工具。Reilly博士试图更好地理解光碎裂过程及其变异性，以便提供一种更有效的蛋白质鉴定方法。他还在组装一个数据库，对光碎片数据进行编目和汇总，并致力于开发一种改进的从头测序算法。这项工作需要与一个对多肽光碎裂理论感兴趣的小组合作。由于多肽和蛋白质在生物过程中的重要性，生物化学、蛋白质组学和细胞生物学领域都将受益于多肽识别和测序技术的改进，特别是在识别突变、翻译后和样品处理修饰以及基因组测序错误方面。蛋白质组学技术的进步可以影响对疾病分子基础的理解，这反过来应该转化为改进临床干预。在这些研究过程中，学生和博士后研究人员在涉及物理、分析和生物化学以及仪器和数据解释算法开发的多学科研究方面接受了宝贵的培训。

With support from the Chemical Measurements and Imaging Program, Prof. James Reilly and his group at Indiana University are seeking ways to improve the structural analysis of peptides using mass spectrometry. In the Reilly approach, peptide ions are photofragmented by high energy ultraviolet light instead of the conventional collisional fragmentation. Resulting data have been found to be somewhat instrument-dependent. Dr. Reilly seeks improved understanding of the photofragmentation process and its variability in order to provide a more effective protein identification approach. He is also assembling a database that catalogs and summarizes photofragmentation data, and working to develop an improved de novo sequencing algorithm. The work entails collaboration with a group interested in the theory of peptide photofragmentation. Because of the importance of peptides and proteins in bioprocesses, the fields of biochemistry, proteomics, and cell biology will all benefit from improvements in peptide identification and sequencing technology, particularly with respect to the ability to identify mutations, post-translational and sample handling modifications, and genome sequencing errors. Advances in proteomic technologies can impact understanding of the molecular basis of disease, which in turn should translate to improved clinical intervention. In the course of these studies, students and postdoctoral researchers are receiving invaluable training in multidisciplinary research that involves physical, analytical and biochemistry along with instrumentation and data interpretation algorithm development.