Localization of O-glycosylation sites of MUC1 tandem repeats by QTOF ESI mass spectrometry

J Mass Spectrom. 1998 Apr;33(4):358-62. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1096-9888(199804)33:4<358::AID-JMS642>3.0.CO;2-3.

Abstract

The potential of electrospray mass spectrometry (ESMS) for the sequencing of glycopeptides was evaluated using quadrupole time-of-flight (QTOF) technology in the MS/MS mode. The location of O-glycosylation sites was possible in the positive ion (+) mode by detection of prominent y- and b-fragment ions from the underivatized TAP25-2 [T1APPAHGVT9S10APDT14RPAPGS20T21APPA], an overlapping sequence of MUC1 tandem repeats which had been glycosylated in vitro by two GalNAc residues in the positions T9 and T21. The high mass resolution and accuracy of QTOF-(+)ESMS allowed reliable structural assignments. The reduced complexity of the fragment spectra and the higher signal-to-noise ratio render QTOF-(+)ESMS an alternative mass spectrometric approach to the identification of O-glycosylation sites when compared with sequencing by post-source decay matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization MS. Diagnostic ions from the N-terminus in the b-series offered direct evidence, which was supported by indirect evidence from the C-terminus ions of the y-series. The higher glycosylated GalNAc2-substituted fragments were mainly observed as multiply ionized species.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Glycosylation
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Mucin-1 / analysis*
  • Mucin-1 / chemistry*
  • Mucin-1 / metabolism
  • Protein Processing, Post-Translational
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Secondary Ion*

Substances

  • Mucin-1