NumSimEX: A method using EXX hydrogen exchange mass spectrometry to map the energetics of protein folding landscapes

Hydrogen exchange mass spectrometry (HXMS) is a powerful tool to understand protein folding pathways and energetics. However, HXMS experiments to date have used exchange conditions termed EX1 or EX2 which limit the information that can be gained compared to the more general EXX exchange regime. If EXX behavior could be understood and analyzed, a single HXMS timecourse on an intact protein could fully map its folding landscape without requiring denaturation. To address this challenge, we developed a numerical simulation method called NumSimEX that models EXX exchange for arbitrarily complex folding pathways. NumSimEx fits protein folding dynamics to experimental HXMS data by iteratively comparing the simulated and experimental timecourses, allowing for determination of both kinetic and thermodynamic protein folding parameters. After analytically verifying NumSimEX's accuracy, we demonstrated its power on HXMS data from beta-2 microglobulin (β2M), a protein involved in dialysis-related amyloidosis. In particular, using NumSimEX, we identified three-state kinetics that near-perfectly matched experimental observation. This proof-of-principle application of NumSimEX sets the stage for harnessing HXMS to expand our understanding of proteins currently excluded from traditional protein folding methods. NumSimEX is freely available at https://github.com/JaswalLab/NumSimEX_Public.