Mass spectrometry techniques for detection of ligand-dependent changes in the conformational flexibility of cellular...

Hydrogen/deuterium exchange, measured by electrospray ionization with orthogonal quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ESI-Q-TOFMS) and by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS), was used as a means to probe and map differences in conformational flexibility between the ligand-free and ligand-bound forms of cellular retinol-binding protein type I. Labelled fragments were obtained by digestion of the protein with pepsin. The differences in space-resolved time courses of deuterium incorporation identified regions that exhibit a remarkably higher degree of flexibility in the apo-protein than in the holo-protein. These segments encompass residues that are thought, on the basis of structural homology of the retinol carrier with other members of the intracellular lipid-binding proteins family, to belong to the dynamic portal through which all-trans retinol can access its high-affinity, solvent-shielded, binding site.