Methyl esterification assisted MALDI FTMS characterization of the orcokinin neuropeptide family

Methyl esterification of a peptide converts carboxylic acids, such as those present on the side chains of aspartic (D) and glutamic acid (E) as well as the free carboxyl terminus, to their corresponding methyl esters. This method has been applied to peptide and protein quantitation, de novo sequencing, and reduction of nonspecific binding in immobilized metal affinity chromatography for enrichment of phosphorylated peptides. In this study, we investigate the application of this derivatization reaction to the identification and characterization of the orcokinin neuropeptide family by screening and localizing the acidic side chains in peptides. The methyl esterification reaction drastically improves the fragmentation efficiency of modified orcokinins due to blockage of the aspartate selective cleavage pathway of the native orcokinin peptides. With the improved sustained off-resonance irradiation-collisional-induced dissociation spectra, the number and the locations of D and E residues are easily deduced. In addition, a side reaction that occurs at the carboxamide group of asparagine (N) is studied. The deamidation followed by subsequent methyl esterification reaction mechanism is proposed based on the study of an isotope-labeled standard N*FDEIDR. Reaction kinetics is studied by elevating the temperature from room temperature to 37 degrees C. The deamidation-methyl esterification products are greatly enhanced with elevated reaction temperature. Furthermore, we also explore the utility of this side reaction for rapid screening and characterization of C-terminally amidated neuropeptides. This derivatization reaction is applied to both in situ direct tissue neuropeptide analysis and the analysis of HPLC fractions from the separation of complex neuronal tissue extracts. Overall, this study reports a simple and effective method for profiling and localizing acidic amino acid residues (D/E), amide-containing residues (N/Q), and the C-terminal amide group in a peptide.