Mass Deconvolution of Top-Down Mass Spectrometry Datasets by FLASHDeconv

Abstract

Mass deconvolution, the determination of proteoform precursor and fragment masses, is crucial for top-down proteomics data analysis. Here we describe the detailed procedure to run FLASHDeconv, an ultrafast, high-quality mass deconvolution tool. Both spectrum- and feature-level deconvolution results are obtainable in various output formats by FLASHDeconv. FLASHDeconv is runnable in different environments such as the command line and OpenMS workflows.

Keywords: Feature deconvolution; Intact protein analysis; Mass deconvolution; Protein characterization; Top-down proteomics.