Skip to main content
PMC home page
Biochemical Journal logoLink to Biochemical Journal
. 1969 Oct;114(4):695–702. doi: 10.1042/bj1140695

Mass-spectrometric determination of the amino acid sequences in peptides isolated from protein silk fibroin of Bombyx mori

A J Geddes 1,2,3, G N Graham 1,2,3, H R Morris 1,2,3, F Lucas 1,2,3, M Barber 1,2,3, W A Wolstenholme 1,2,3
PMCID: PMC1184954  PMID: 5343769

Abstract

Several peptides were isolated from the protein silk fibroin of Bombyx mori by means of ion-exchange chromatography of a chymotryptic digest. The sequences of three of the peptides, Gly-Ala-Gly-Tyr, Gly-Val-Gly-Tyr and Gly-Ala-Gly-Ala-Gly-Ala-Gly-Tyr, were known from previous chemical work, but the sequence of the fourth, Gly-Ala-Gly-Val-Gly-Ala-Gly-Tyr, was previously only partially known. The necessary volatility for mass-spectrometric examination of the peptides was achieved by permethylation of the N-acetyl-peptide methyl ester derivatives. From the mass spectra it was possible to confirm the known sequences and to establish that of the partially known one. In one instance it was possible to deduce from the same mass spectrum the sequence of a main peptide component and that of a small amount of contaminating peptide. These results demonstrate for the first time the use of mass spectrometry in the determination of the amino acid sequences in peptides from a protein hydrolysate.

Full text

PDF
695

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. BARBER M., JOLLES P., VILKAS E., LEDERER E. DETERMINATION OF AMINO ACID SEQUENCES IN OLIGOPEPTIDES BY MASS SPECTROMETRY. I. THE STRUCTURE OF FORTUITINE, AN ACYLNONAPEPTIDE METHYL ESTER. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1965 Feb 17;18:469–473. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(65)90775-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Barber M., Powers P., Wallington M. J., Wolstenholme W. A. Computer interpretation of high resolution mass spectra. Nature. 1966 Nov 19;212(5064):784–787. doi: 10.1038/212784a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Biemann K., Cone C., Webster B. R., Arsenault G. P. Determination of the amino acid sequence in oligopeptides by computer interpretation of their high-resolution mass spectra. J Am Chem Soc. 1966 Dec 5;88(23):5598–5606. doi: 10.1021/ja00975a045. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Das B. C., Gero S. D., Lederer E. N-methylation of N-acyl oligopeptides. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1967 Oct 26;29(2):211–215. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(67)90589-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. LUCAS F., SHAW J. T., SMITH S. G. Some amino acid sequences in the amorphous fraction of the fibroin of Bombyx mori. Biochem J. 1962 Apr;83:164–171. doi: 10.1042/bj0830164. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Shemyakin M. M., Ovchinnikov Y. A., Kiryushkin A. A., Vinogradova E. I., Miroshnikov A. I., Alakhov Y. B., Lipkin V. M., Shvetsov Y. B., Wulfson N. S., Rosinov B. V. Mass spectrometric determination of the amino-acid sequence of peptides. Nature. 1966 Jul 23;211(5047):361–366. doi: 10.1038/211361a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Thomas D. W., Das B. C., Géro S. D., Lederer E. Advantages and limitations of the mass spectrometric sequence determination of permethylated oligopeptide derivatives. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1968 Jul 26;32(2):199–207. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(68)90369-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Biochemical Journal are provided here courtesy of The Biochemical Society

RESOURCES