High resolution 2-D peptide mapping with subsequent analysis of peptides by microsequencing or lectin binding...

Peptide mapping is a technique that is frequently used to characterize proteins. Typically, the method involves the cleavage of proteins in solution or in a gel with the subsequent separation of the peptide fragments on a 1-D SDS PAGE gel. Electrophoretic peptide maps are often used to compare homologous proteins from related organisms to derive evolutionary relationships. Other applications of peptide mapping include immunoblotting studies of selected proteins. Two-dimensional peptide mapping, a less common technique, has traditionally involved a combination of thin layer or paper chromatography and electrophoresis. Amino acid sequencing of peptides that were separated using this method and then subsequently blotted to PVDF membrane was reported recently. However, the resolution achieved with these methods is far below that which can be achieved with conventional 2-D electrophoresis of proteins in polyacrylamide gels. This report describes an electrophoretic system for the high resolution 2-D separation of peptides in gels with subsequent blotting to a novel cationic PVDF membrane, Immobilon-CD, and microsequencing directly from the 2-D blot. In addition, the high resolution peptide maps can be further analyzed by techniques such as lectin probing to determine post-translational modifications.