• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.93-101
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• 2019

Algorithms and software for predicting tandem mass spectra have been developed in recent years. In this work, we explore how distinct in silico $MS^2$ spectra are predicted for isomers, i.e. compounds having the same formula and similar molecular structures, to differentiate between them. We used the CFM-ID 2.0/3.0 predictor with regard to (a) test compounds, whose experimental mass spectra had been randomly sampled from the MassBank of North America (MoNA) collection, and to (b) the most widespread isomers of test compounds searched in the PubChem database. In the first validation test, in silico mass spectra constitute a reference library, and library searches are performed for test experimental spectra of "unknowns". The searches led to the true positive rate (TPR) of ($46-48{\pm}10$)%. In the second test, in silico and experimental spectra were interchanged and this resulted in a TPR of ($58{\pm}10$)%. There were no significant differences between results obtained with different metrics of spectral similarity and predictor versions. In a comparison of test compounds vs. their isomers, a statistically significant correlation between mass spectral data and structural features was observed. The TPR values obtained should be regarded as reasonable results for predicting tandem mass spectra of related chemical structures.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.50-55
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• 2019

The fragmentation statistics of ion trap CID (Collision-Induced Dissociation) spectra using 87,661 tandem mass spectra of doubly charged tryptic peptides are analyzed here. In contrast to the usual method of using intensity information, the frequency of occurrence of fragment ions, with respect to the position of the cleavage site and the residues at these sites is studied in this paper. The analysis shows that the frequency of occurrence of fragment ion peaks is more towards the middle of the peptide than its ends. It was noted that amino acid with an aromatic and basic side chain at N- & C- terminal end of the peptide stimulates more peaks at the lower end of the spectrum. The residue pair effect was shown when the amide bond occurs between acidic and basic residues. The fragmentation at these sites (D/E-H/R/K) stimulates the generation of the y-ion peak. Also, the cleavage site H-H/R/K stimulates the generation of b-ions. K-P environment in the peptide sequence has more tendency to generate y-ions than b-ions. Statistical analysis helps in the visualization of the CID fragmentation pattern. Cleavage pattern along the length of the peptide and the residue pair effects, enhance the knowledge of fragmentation behavior, which is useful for the better interpretation of tandem mass spectra.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.79-82
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• 2013

Various types of alkaloids observed in several herbal medicines were analyzed by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry in positive ion mode. In the present study, MS/MS spectralpatterns were investigated for eight-types of alkaloids (aporpine, protoberberine, tetrahydroprotoberberine, benzylisoquinoline, protopine, phthalide, morpine, and bisbenzylisoquinoline). For aporpine- and protoberberine-type alkaloids, main fragmentations occurred at substituted groups on rigid ring structures, not showing ring fusion. Interesting fragmentations due to iminolization and retro-Diels-Alder (RDA) reaction were observed in MS/MS spectra of protopine- and tetrahydroprotobereberine-type alkaloids. Also, several types of fragmentations such as inductive cleavage and ${\alpha}$-cleavage, or bond cleavage between two ring structures were observed depending on their structural characteristics. These fragmentation patterns are expected to allow instant classification of the specific alkaloid type in various MS/MS spectra of alkaloids.

• Journal of KIISE:Software and Applications
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• v.34 no.10
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• pp.889-899
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• 2007

In proteomics, recent advancements In mass spectrometry technology and in protein extraction and separation technology made high-throughput analysis possible. This leads to thousands to hundreds of thousands of MS/MS spectra per single LC-MS/MS experiment. Such a large amount of data creates significant computational challenges and therefore effective data analysis methods that make efficient use of computational resources and, at the same time, provide more peptide identifications are in great need. Here, SIFTER system is designed to avoid inefficient processing of shotgun proteomic data. SIFTER provides software tools that can improve throughput of mass spectrometry-based peptide identification by filtering out poor-quality tandem mass spectra and estimating a Peptide charge state prior to applying analysis algorithms. SIFTER tools characterize and assess spectral features and thus significantly reduce the computation time and false positive rates by localizing spectra that lead to wrong identification prior to full-blown analysis. SIFTER enables fast and in-depth interpretation of tandem mass spectra.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2018

Studies on the interactions of amyloidogenic proteins with trace metals, such as copper, have indicated that the metal ions perform a critical function in the early oligomerization process. Herein, we investigate the effects of Cu(II) ions on the active sequence regions of amyloidogenic proteins using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and collision induced dissociation tandem MS (CID-MS/MS). We chose three amyloidogenic peptides NNQQNY, LYQLEN, and VQIVYK from yeast prion like protein Sup35, insulin chain A, and tau protein, respectively. [Cu-peptide] complexes for all three peptides were observed in the mass spectra. The mass spectra also show that increasing Cu(II) concentrations decrease the population of existing peptide oligomers. The tandem mass spectrum of NNQQNY shows preferential binding for the N-terminal region. All three peptides are likely to appear to be in a Cu-monomer-monomer (Cu-M-M) structure instead of a monomer-Cu-monomer (M-Cu-M) structure.

• Bioinformatics and Biosystems
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.109-114
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• 2006

In proteomics research, proteins are digested into peptides by an enzyme and in mass spectrometer, these peptides break into fragment ions to generate tandem mass spectra. The tandem mass spectral data obtained from the mass spectrometer consists of the molecular weights of the precursor ion and fragment ions. The precursor ion mass of tandem mass spectrum is the first value that is fetched to sort the candidate peptides in the database search. We look far the peptide sequences whose molecular weight matches with precursor ion mass of the mass spectrum. Then, we choose one peptide sequence that shows the best match with fragment ions information. The precursor ion mass of the tandem mass spectrum is compared with that of the digested peptides of protein database within the mass tolerance that is assigned by users according to the mass spectrometer accuracy. In this study, we used reversed sequence database method to analyze the molecular weight distribution of precursor ions of the tandem mass spectra obtained by the FT LTQ mass spectrometer for human plasma sample. By reinterpreting the precursor ion mass distribution, we could compute the experimental accuracy and we suggested a method to improve the protein identification performance.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.8-11
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• 2011

Two types of glycerolipids [monoacylglycerols (MAG) and cyclitols] were isolated by reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography from the methanol extracts of a marine sponge, and analyzed by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FAB-MS) in positive-ion mode. FAB mass spectra of these compounds yielded protonated molecules $[M + H]^+$ and abundant sodiated molecules $[M + Na]^+$ from a mixture of 3-nitrobenzyl alcohol and NaI. The structures of these compounds were elucidated by FAB-collisional-induced dissociation (CID)-tandem mass spectrometry. We carried out collision-indused dissociation (CID) of these lipids in B/E-linked scan mode. The CID B/E-linked scan of $[M + H]^+$ and $[M + Na]^+$ precursor ions resulted in the formation of numerous characteristic product ions through a series of dissociative processes. The product ions formed by charge-remote fragmentation (CRF) provided important information for the identification of the acyl chain structure substituted at the glycerol backbone. Some of the product the ions were diagnostic for the presence of a glycerol backbone or acyl chain structure.

• Bioinformatics and Biosystems
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.89-94
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• 2006

Mass spectrometry (MS) is widely applied for high throughput proteomics analysis. When large-scale proteome analysis experiments are performed, it generates massive amount of data. To search these proteomics data against protein databases, fully automated database search algorithms, such as Mascot and SEQUEST are routinely employed. At present, it is critical to reduce false positives and false negatives during such analysis. In this review we have focused on aspects of automated protein identification using tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) spectra and validation of the protein identifications of two most common automated protein identification algorithms Mascot and SEQUEST.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.29-38
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• 2012

A new approach of volatile compounds analysis is proposed using a linear ion trap Orbitrap mass spectrometer coupled with gas chromatography through an atmospheric pressure photoionization interface. In the proposed GC-HRMS/MS approach, direct chemical composition analysis is made for the precursor ions in high resolution MS spectra and the structural identifications were made through the database search of high quality MS/MS spectra. Successful analysis of a complex perfume sample was demonstrated and compared with GC-EI-Q and GC-EI-TOF. The current approach is complementary to conventional GC-EI-MS analysis and can identify low abundance co-eluting compounds. Toluene co-sprayed as a dopant through API probe significantly enhanced ionization of certain compounds and reduced oxidation during the ionization.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.919-924
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• 2014

Ambient ionization can be achieved by generating an electrospray directly from plant tissue ("leaf spray"). The resulting mass spectra are characteristic of ionizable phytochemicals in the plant material. By subtracting the leaf spray spectra recorded from the petals of two hibiscus species H. moscheutos and H. syriacus one gains rapid access to the metabolites that differ most in the two petals. One such compound was identified as the sambubioside of quercitin (or delphinidin) while others are known flavones. Major interest centered on a $C_{19}H_{29}NO_5$ compound that occurs only in the large H. moscheutos bloom. Attempts were made to characterize this compound by mass spectrometry alone as a test of such an approach. This showed that the compound is an alkaloid, assigned to the polyhydroxylated pyrrolidine class, and bound via a $C_3$ hydrocarbon unit to a monoterpene.