Characterization of the synthetic zinc finger proteins. (A) SDS/PAGE gel showing the four purified proteins. Molecular masses (m + 1) of 9,780.4 daltons (9,778.5 calculated) (QNK), 9,860.6 daltons (9,858.5 calculated) (QNKp12), 9,860.9 daltons (QNKp23) (9,858.5 calculated), and 9,941.3 daltons (9,938.5 calculated) (QNKp123) were determined by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry. (B) Cobalt titrations to determine metal binding affinity. All four proteins bound three equivalents of cobalt each, and titration data were fit to yield dissociation constants lower than 1 × 10-7 M for all metal binding sites.