1. Interpretation of Mass Spectra
Beatrix Ueberheide
March 11th 2019

2. The Mass Spectrum

3. Charge State = number of H+ (H=1.008)
M - molecular mass
n - number of charges
H – mass of a proton
[M+1H]+1
( * 5)-(4*1.008) =

4. Charge State = number of H+ (H=1.008)
M - molecular mass
n - number of charges
H – mass of a proton
[M+1H]+1

5. Charge State = number of H+ (H=1.008)
M - molecular mass
n - number of charges
H – mass of a proton
[M+1H]+1

6. Biological Mass Spectrometry
Proteolytic digestion
Protein(s)
Peptides
Base Peak Chromatogram MS
Time (min)
500
1000
1500
m/z
Mass Spectrometer
200
600
1000
m/z
MS/MS
Database Search
Manual Interpretation

7. Peptide Sequencing using Mass Spectrometry
Fragments containing original N-terminus: b- or c- ion K L E D F G S
Fragments containing original C-terminus: y- or z- ion
100
% Relative Abundance
250
500
750
1000
m/z

8. Peptide Sequencing using Mass Spectrometry88
145
292
405
534
663
778
907
1020
1166
b ions K L E D F G S
1166
1080
1022
875
762
633
504
389
260
147
y ions
762
100
875
[M+2H]2+
% Relative Abundance
633
292
405
260
534
389
1022
504
663
907
1020
778
1080
250
500
750
1000
m/z

9. Searching Proteomics Data
GSFLYEYSRRHPEYAVSVLLRLAKEYEATLEECCAKDDPHACYSTVFDKLKHLVDEPQNLIKQNCDQFEKGEYGFQNALIVRYTRKVPQVSTPTLVEVSRSLGKVGTRCCTKPESERMPCTEDYLSLILNRLCVLHEKTPVSEKVTKCCTESLVNRRPCFSALTP
Protein
Digestion
LFTFHADICTLPDTEK
RPCFSALTPDETYVPK
MPCTEDYLSLILNR
VPQVSTPTLVEVSR
DDPHACYSTVFDK
Peptide Mass
Measurement
500
1000
1500
m/z MS
Peptide Fragmentation
200
600
1000
m/z
MS/MS

10. Nomenclature of Fragment Ions

11. Accurate Mass of Amino Acids

12. Common PTMs

13. Review from last class:
Major ions in a spectrum should be explained by the peptide sequence
Specific amino acids can show Neutral Losses (H20, NH3)
Water loss: S, T, E (must be at N-terminus)
Ammonia loss: R, K, Q and N
The y ion after P cleavage is often the dominant ion in a spectrum
P and to a lesser degree H can show internal cleavages
L and I have the exact same mass
K and Q have near identical mass (K = ; Q = )
Two amino acids could near equal the mass of a single amino acid
The b2 ion is often observed along with the a2 ion

14. How to Sequence: CAD Residue Mass (RM)
The very first N- and C-terminal fragment ions are not just their corresponding residue masses. The peptides N or C-terminus has to be taken into account.
b ion
y ion
b1 = RM + 1
y1 = RM + 19

15. Example of how to calculate theoretical fragment ions88
159
290
387
500
629
803
S A M P L E R
803
716
645
514
417
304
175
Residue Mass
The first b ion
The first y ion

16. How to calculate theoretical fragment ions
RM+1
+ RM
+ RM
+ RM
+ RM
+ RM
+RM+18 88
159
290
387
500
629
803
S A M P L E R
803
716
645
514
417
304
175
+ RM
+ RM
+ RM
+ RM
+ RM
+ RM
RM+19
The first b ion
The first y ion
Residue Mass

17. Finding ‘pairs’ and ‘biggest’ ions: b ion
If trypsin was used for digestion, one can assume that the peptide terminates in K or R. Therefore the biggest observable b ion should be:
Mass of peptide [M+H] (K) -18
Mass of peptide [M+H] (R) -18

18. Finding ‘pairs’ and ‘biggest’ ions: y ion
y ions are truncated peptides. Therefore subtract a residue mass from the parent ion [M+H] +1 .
The highest possible ion could be at [M+H] (G)
The lowest possible ion at [M+H] (W)

19. Finding ‘pairs’ and ‘biggest’ ions: pairsH+ H+
b and y ion pairs:
Complementary b and y ions should add up and result in the mass of the intact peptide, but since both b and y ion carry 1H+ the peptide mass will be by 1H+ too high therefore:
b (m/z) + y (m/z)-1H+ = [M+H] +1

20. How to start sequencing
Know the charge of the peptide
Calculate the [M+1H]+1 charge state of the peptide
Know the sample treatment (i.e. alkylation, other derivatizations that could change the mass of amino acids)
Know what enzyme was used for digestion
Find and exclude non sequence type ions (i.e. unreacted precursor, neutral loss from the parent ion, neutral loss from fragment ions)
Look for the biggest y or b ion in the spectrum.
Try to find sequence ions by finding b/y pairs
You usually can conclude you found the correct sequence if you can explain the major ions in a spectrum

21. Common observed neutral losses and mass additions:
Ammonia -17
Water -18
Carbon Monoxide from b ions -28
Phosphoric acid from phosphorylated serine and threonine -98
Carbamidomethyl modification on cysteines upon alkylation with iodoacetamide +57
Oxidation of methionine +16
Calculate with nominal mass during sequencing, but use the monoisotopic masses to check if the sequence fits the parent mass fits. For high res. MS/MS check that the residue mass difference is correct.

22. Homework 1

27. Homework 2

30. H F V Q W C A L R

31. Example 1

36. Example 2

37. Example 2

38. Example 2

39. Example 2

40. Homework for next class

42. Ubiquitination - MS