A charge-suppressing strategy for probing protein methylation

Methylation of arginine and lysine (RK) residues play essential roles in epigenetics and the regulation of gene expression. However, research in this area is often hindered by the lack of effective tools for probing the protein methylation. Here, we present an antibody-free strategy to capture protein methylation on RK residues by using chemical reactions to eliminate the charges on un-modified RK residues and peptide N-termini. Peptides containing methylated RK residues remain positively charged and are then enriched by strong cation exchange chromatography, followed by high-resolution mass spectrometry identification.