Structural analysis of proteins by laser desorption and electrospray mass spectrometry

The development of electrospray and matrix-assisted laser desorption mass spectrometry has provided protein chemists with tools for peptide and protein structure analysis with unprecedented sensitivity and molecular weight range. The two technologies can be viewed as competitive with respect to their molecular mass determinations, but complementary with respect to their differences in instrumentation, sample preparation methods, and nature of spectra produced.