Characterization of a tryptic digest by high-performance displacement chromatography and mass spectrometry

High-performance displacement chromatography (HPDC) provides a means of increasing the capacity of a chromatographic column, while maintaining the resolution afforded by high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) instruments. The high capacity and high resolution of HPDC can be exploited in tryptic mapping to facilitate the characterization of a protein preparation. In this manner, minor constituents of the mixture, which may be difficult to isolate by conventional chromatographic methods, can be obtained in sufficient amounts to permit chemical characterization by established techniques. The isolation by HPDC of peptides obtained by digestion of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) and the subsequent characterization of the peptides are described. The identification of certain of these peptides revealed information on the specificity of trypsin for the substrate, rhGH, and for autolysis. Fractions from the HPDC tryptic map were collected and analyzed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) either directly or following further separation by gradient elution HPLC. Fragment ions observed in the ESI mass spectra facilitated identification of peptides obtained by HPDC tryptic mapping.