Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry: A Promising New Technique in the Study of Protein/DNA Noncovalent Complexes

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-2-1999

Journal Title

Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications

ISSN

0006-291X

Volume

257

Issue

1

First Page

1

Last Page

5

DOI

10.1006/bbrc.1998.0103

PubMed ID

10092500

Abstract

With the emergence of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), mass spectrometry is no longer restricted to the study of small, stable molecules, but has become a viable technique to study large biomolecules as well as noncovalent biomolecular complexes. ESI-MS has been used to study noncovalent interactions involving proteins with metals, ligands, peptides, oligonucleotides, and other proteins. An area where ESI-MS holds significant promise is in the study of protein/DNA interactions. The most common technique employed to study protein/DNA interactions is the electrophoretic gel mobility shift assay (EMSA). Although this technique has and will continue to provide excellent results, ESI-MS has shown the ability to provide detailed results not easily obtainable by EMSA. In this review I will discuss some of the protein/DNA noncovalent interactions that have been measured using ESI-MS, and contrast the results obtained by ESI-MS to those obtained by EMSA.

Keywords

DNA, DNA-binding proteins, electrons, ions, mass spectrometry, protein binding

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS