Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Investigating The Mechanism Of Protein And Peptide Electrospray Ionization, Elnaz Aliyari

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry (MS) is widely used for the detection and characterization of various analytes. However, many fundamental aspects of the ESI process remain poorly understood. Using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, MS, and ion mobility spectrometry (IMS), this thesis sheds light on the mechanisms whereby gaseous analyte ions are formed from highly charged ESI nanodroplets. After a general introduction (Chapter 1), Chapter 2 focuses on the ion evaporation mechanism (IEM), i.e., the ejection of analyte ions from the droplet surface. The IEM is well established for low MW compounds, but it has remained contentious whether this pathway is …

Mechanism Of Protein Charging And Supercharging In Electrospray Ionization: Molecular Dynamics Simulations And Experimental Investigations, Haidy S. Metwally

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) is a powerful technique for investigating protein structures, conformations, and interactions. Despite its widespread use, many fundamental aspects of ESI remain poorly understood. In this thesis, we use a combination of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and experiments to gain insights into the hidden complexities of ESI-MS.

Chapter 2 discusses the topic of salt-induced protein signal degradation. Salts such as NaCl, CsCl, and tetrabutyl ammonium chloride (NBu₄Cl) interfere with MS data acquisition, leading to adduct formation and signal suppression. MD simulations provide an explanation for these salt interferences. Signal suppression can be broken down …

Metalation And Structural Properties Of Apo-Metallothioneins, Gordon W. Irvine

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Metals are required by a quarter of all proteins to achieve their biological function, whether in an active site involved in catalytic chemistry or in a structural capacity. Metals are tightly regulated at the cellular level due to their propensity to cause unwanted side reactions and to be scavenged for use by pathogens. One of the proteins involved in this regulation of metal homeostasis is metallothionein (MT) which is a small, cysteine rich protein primarily involved in the regulation of zinc and copper homeostasis and heavy metal detoxification. MT is unique in its high cysteine content (~30% of the residues), …

Reactions Between Zinc Metallothionein And Carbonic Anhydrase, Tyler B. J. Pinter

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

More than 25% of proteins require metal ion cofactors for structure or function. The interactions between metalloproteins have largely been overlooked, though these interactions ultimately govern metal localization and control metal ion homeostasis. Mammalian metallothionein (MT) is a small, cysteine-rich metalloprotein that binds numerous metal ions per protein strand. Up to seven divalent metals, such as zinc or cadmium, are wrapped into a clustered two-domain structure. This unusually high metal content places MT as an attractive candidate for studying interactions with other metal-binding proteins. This present study investigates the metal transfer reactions between MTs and other metalloproteins, using carbonic anhydrase …

The Role Of Metallothionein In Zinc Homeostasis, Kelly L. Summers

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The structure of the unique metal-binding protein, metallothionein (MT), consists of two metal-thiolate-clustered binding domains; the β-domain binds up to three divalent metals and the α-domain binds four. The mechanisms through which the metals are bound and arranged into domains, as well as the function of MT in metal ion homeostasis, remains largely unknown. By utilizing electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI MS) to identify each species, and by comparing the data with simulations, MT 1a was found to bind Zn²⁺ non-cooperatively. Through a competition experiment between MT and its individual domain peptides, MT was proposed to bind Zn^{2+ …}

Protein Structure And Interactions Studied By Electrospray Mass Spectrometry, Jiangjiang Liu

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Since the emergence of electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry (MS) as a tool for protein structural studies, this area has experienced tremendous growth. ESI-MS is highly sensitive, and it allows the analysis of biological systems ranging in size from a few atoms to large multi-protein complexes. This work aims to solve questions in protein structural biology by using ESI-MS in conjunction with other techniques.

We initially apply ESI-MS for studying the monomeric protein cytochrome c (Chapter 2). The physical reasons underlying the irreversible thermal denaturation of this protein remain controversial. By utilizing deconvoluted charge state distributions, oxidative modifications were found …