Gaseous Protein Cations Are Amphoteric

Abstract

Singly- and multiply-protonated ubiquitin molecules are found to react with iodide anions, and certain other anions, by attachment of the anion, in competition with proton transfer to the anion. The resulting adduct ions are relatively weakly bound and dissociate upon collisional activation by loss of the neutral acid derived from the anion. Adduct ions that behave similarly can also be formed via ion/molecule reactions involving the neutral acid. The ion/molecule reaction phenomenology, however, stands in contrast with that expected based on the reaction site(s) being charged. Reaction rates increase inversely with charge state and the total number of neutral molecules that add to the protein cations increases inversely with cation charge. These observations are inconsistent with the formation of proton-bound clusters but are fully consistent with the formation of ion pairs or dipole/dipole bonding involving the neutral acid and neutral basic sites in the protein. The ion/ion reactions can be interpreted...