JMSSJ On-line

JMSSJ On-line, Vol. 48 (2000) No. 2, pp. 94-100

Probing the Higher Order Structure of Proteins by Hydrogen/Deuterium Exchange and Mass Spectrometry		>> Full Text PDF >> References
*Satoko AKASHI^a) and Koji TAKIO^a)** ^a) Division of Biomolecular Characterization, RIKEN (The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research) (2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, 351-0198, Japan)*

In order to understand the protein function in detail, it is important to have information on tertiary structure of the protein. Protein tertiary structure has generally been studied using X-ray crystallography and NMR. However, these techniques require a large scale sample preparation. On the other hand, mass spectrometry requires a smaller sample amount and is much faster than X-ray crystallography or NMR. These are great advantages of MS in the structural characterization of a protein. In the present commentary, it will be described how to study the tertiary structure of proteins using hydrogen-deuterium exchange in conjunction with mass spectrometry.

Key words: Protein structure, ESI, H/D exchange, FTICR MS