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Electrospray‐ionization mass spectrometry as a tool for fast screening of protein structural properties
Author(s) -
Grandori Rita,
Santambrogio Carlo,
Brocca Stefania,
Invernizzi Gaetano,
Lotti Marina
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
biotechnology journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.144
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1860-7314
pISSN - 1860-6768
DOI - 10.1002/biot.200800250
Subject(s) - electrospray ionization , mass spectrometry , chemistry , electrospray , computational biology , biochemical engineering , structural biology , electrospray mass spectrometry , nanotechnology , biochemistry , chromatography , biology , materials science , engineering
Since the early 1990s, electrospray‐ionization mass spectrometry (ESI‐MS) has encountered growing interest as a complementary tool to established biochemical and biophysical methods for investigating protein structure and conformation. Nowadays, applications of ESI‐MS to protein investigation span from the area of analytical biochemistry to that of structural biology. This review focuses on applications of this technique to the analysis of protein conformational properties and molecular interactions, underscoring their possible relevance for molecular biotechnology, although representing a still very young field. An introductive section presents the major issues related to theoretical and technical aspects of ESI‐MS under non‐denaturing conditions. Examples from our work and from the literature illustrate which kind of information can be obtained concerning key issues in biotechnology such as stability and aggregation of proteins under both near‐native and challenging conditions, and interactions with other proteins, ligands and cofactors.