Quantification of intramolecular click chemistry modified synthetic peptide isomers in mixtures using tandem mass spectrometry and the survival yield technique.

Abstract

Intramolecular click-chemistry is increasingly used to generate and control the architecture of complex macromolecules including peptides. Such compounds are, however, very challenging to analyze, in particular quantitatively and also to assess their purity. In this study, tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) experiments were carried out with an ion trap mass spectrometer using the Survival Yield (SY) technique to analyze several mixtures of protonated, alkali and alkaline earth metal complexes of two topological linear and cyclic peptide isomers. Univariate (using a single excitation voltage) and multivariate (using several excitation voltages) calibration models have been used. The sensitivity, linearity (R2), intermediate precision (sInt) and error of predicted values (RMSEP) of external calibrations curves have been compared leading to the conclusions that: 1) quantification using tandem mass spectrometry can be performed, with very good performances, for such peptides despite isomerism, 2) quantification is also possible despite the absence of diagnostic fragment ions (possibly independently of the amino-acid sequence), 3) best results are obtained with the largest alkali cation, Cs+, while protonation is highly discouraged, 4) uni/multivariate models show similar performances, but the univariate model may be more suitable for potential applications with direct infusion by electrospray ionization (ESI-MS/MS) and/or matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI-MS/MS). Graphical abstract ᅟ.