A photocleavable surfactant for top-down proteomics

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Brown K. A., Chen B., Guardado-Alvarez T. M., Lin Z., Hwang L., Ayaz-Guner Ş., ...More

NATURE METHODS, vol.16, no.5, pp.417-423, 2019 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 16 Issue: 5
  • Publication Date: 2019
  • Doi Number: 10.1038/s41592-019-0391-1
  • Journal Name: NATURE METHODS
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.417-423
  • Abdullah Gül University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

We report the identification of a photocleavable anionic surfactant, 4-hexylphenylazosulfonate (Azo), which can be rapidly degraded by ultraviolet irradiation, for top-down proteomics. Azo can effectively solubilize proteins with performance comparable to that of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and is compatible with mass spectrometry. Azo-aided top-down proteomics enables the solubilization of membrane proteins for comprehensive characterization of post-translational modifications. Moreover, Azo is simple to synthesize and can be used as a general SDS replacement in SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.