Phosphopeptide analysis by positive and negative ion matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry

This article describes a simple procedure for the detection of phosphorylated peptides by comparable positive and negative ion mode matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry measurements. Based on studies with phosphorylated peptides (EAIXAAPFAK, X = pS, pT, pY) and their corresponding non-phosphorylated analogs, it was found that phosphopeptides, which are characterized by a low ionization efficiency in the positive ion mode, exhibit drastically increased signal intensities in the negative ion mode compared to their nonphosphorylated analogs. The effect was successfully used to identify phosphorylated sequences of the commonly used phosphoprotein standards, protein kinase A and beta -casein, by peptide mass fingerprint analyses of the corresponding Lys C and trypsin digests using both (positive and negative) ion modes. The comparison of positive and negative ion spectra of a given protein digest (relative intensity([M - H]-)/relative intensity([M + H]+)) can be used to identify any phosphopeptides present which may then be separated and analyzed further. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.